Galileo Galilei Ring

Description

"I do not feel obliged to believe that the same
god who has endowed us with sense, reason and
intellect has intended us to forgo their use."
—Galileo

I find I have a fascination with astronomers. This is why:
I think to study the heavens, one is constantly reminded of the minutia of our existence. And yet, they carry on, finding importance in the pursuit of knowledge.

During the 1600's, the accepted theory was that the sun and all the planets revolved around the Earth. Galileo was brave enough to embrace a new theory put forth by Nicolaus Copernicus, that the Earth and all the other planets revolved around the sun. His support of this theory got him into trouble with the Roman Catholic Church. In 1633, the Inquisition convicted him of heresay and forced him to recant his support of Copernicus. They sentenced him to life imprisonment, but because of his advanced age, allowed him serve his term under house arrest at his villa in Arcetri outside of Florence.

Galileo was willing to accept the fact the the human race, was, in fact, not the center of the universe, but a small speck in the grand scheme.

I used tiny diamonds to create a constellation on my Galileo ring. It can be special ordered in any size.

Added on Sep 02, 2009