Science in Christian Perspective

Tentative Conclusions Based 
on Questionable Sources (2)
Owen Gingerich
Center for Astrophysics
Harvard College Observatory
Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory
Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138

From: JASA 34 (June 1982): 124.

I have now read rather carefully Jerry Bergman's article in the December 1981 Journal ASA. I find it a rather weak article because (a) it is based primarily upon older secondary sources, and (b) the conclusion stated both in the abstract and in the large type on p. 229, is essentially unsupported by the main text of the article, and rests on some rather select quotations in the short concluding section. The paper thus conveys the impression that the conclusion was established in advance and the story line added subsequently.

Several rather minor errors might have been prevented, such as the misspelling of Wittenberg or the statement that Schbnberg urged Galileo to disseminate his research, rather difficult since the Cardinal died in 1537.