Paolo Antonio Foscarini (c. 1565 – 10 June 1616) was aCarmelite priest and scientist, whose book on the mobility of theEarth was condemned by the RomanInquisition in 1616 along with the writings ofCopernicus. Paolo Foscarini was born inMontalto inCalabria, with the family name Scarini. He studied inNaples at the convent of theCarmine Maggiore and was professor of theology inMessina, where he also taught philosophy. He was appointedprior of theconvent ofTropea,vicar provincial of the Order in Naples and from 1608 Father Provincial of Calabria. He died at a Carmelite convent he had founded in Montalto.[1]
He published a devotional book,Meditationes, preces, et exercitia quotidiana, in 1611. In 1613 he published a 7-volume encyclopedia of the liberal arts, physics and metaphysics.[citation needed]
But his attempt to publish in 1615 a "Letter of opinion over the Pythagorean and Copernican opinion concerning the mobility of the earth and the stability of the sun" was more contentious. The letter was addressed to the General of the Carmelites, Sebastiano Fantini. In it he addresses the common scriptural objections to the Copernican system.[citation needed]
This reached Galileo when his own "Letter to Castelli" was being considered by the Inquisition. ButCardinal Bellarmine responded to Foscarini saying that both men should confine themselves to treating the Copernican system as pure hypothesis and that purported reconciliations with the Bible were not allowed. Subsequently, the book was banned, unlike the others which were only censored.[2]
An English translation by Thomas Salusbury was published in 1661.[citation needed]
Foscarini starts by observing:
He identifies 6 classes of statements in the Bible that are taken to oppose the movement of the world:[citation needed]
He resolves these in turn mainly by the use of metaphor and the common way of speaking.[citation needed]
