FR>kk> IIRC, Jupiter's moons were a compelling but not conclusive argument
FR>kk> for the heliocentric model.  I think what pushed Galileo over the
FR>kk> edge into accepting Copernicus were the phases of Venus.
FR>I think that it certainly showed undeniable evidence that planetary bodies
FR>were capable of having orbital satelites yet humanity had known that 
imply
FR>by observing the Moon.  What really twigged the fact was the orbital data
FR>observed by himself and some of his contemporaries... the Keplerian data,
FR>in other words.  The geometry wouldn't work with "perfect" circular orbits
FR>but worked perfectly for an elipse -- what blasphemy!
That's right -- I had forgotten.  Everything in the heavens was
supposed at the time to be perfect, and therefore orbits were required
to be 'perfect' circles.
Speaking of which, I'm just now reading SJ Gould's most recent book,
"Full House."  He notes Freud's observation that revolutions in
science have typically caused (Gould speaking here) "the successive
dethronement of human arrogance from one pillar after another of our
previous cosmic assurance."  Freud mentions three:
-- We discovered that earth is a tiny rock orbiting a standard-
issue G2 star in an ordinary galaxy;
-- then Darwin showed the plausibility of descent from animals;
-- we then took comfort in the absolute uniqueness of our rational
   minds, until Freud discovered the unconscious.
Then Gould goes on to note two more that Freud left out.
One is the geological discovery of 'deep time,' that the earth
was millions, hundreds of millions, then billions of years old.
If the age of the earth were reduced to a year, H. sap. only
appeared in the most recent second.
Gould then adds a couple of his own.  For years we have taken comfort
in 'knowing' that evolution is about progress and an increase in
complexity, and that we are the inevitable result.  Gould points out
that from a pragmatic point of view, the earth has always been in
the Age of Bacteria, but that we focus on the multicellular
organisms because we are more interested in ourselves.  This, he sez,
would be sort of like organizing a parade in which each of the
50 United States has a float -- but we let the original 13 floats
go a mile or tw and then force them out, and we end up with the
whole parade comprising only New Mexico, Arizona, Alaska, and
Hawai'i.
Next, he argues, if we could wind the planetary clock back
a couple million years and let it run again, there is nothing
in evolution that sez that things would go exactly the way they did,
or that a large-brained hominid is obliged to appear just now.
When our complete dethronement from "Crown of Creation" is
delineated that neatly, I suppose it's not too surprising that
some people prefer to toss it all out and revert to an old
story that claims divine authority!  
 * SLMR 2.1a * .        Brevity is the sole of wit. -- Wm. Tagspeare
--- PCBoard (R) v15.4/M 5 Beta
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