Hubble Told the Best Story

In “Whoever Tells the Best Story Wins” author Annette Simmons explains that facts are important but they often fail to connect with those who hear them. To be truly informative and persuasive, you need good stories — especially personal stories. This may be why there are more stories about “Galileo vs. the Church” than they are about facts about the Universe.

During the 15th and 16th centuries two stories were being told about the universe. The geocentric story, by Claudius Ptolemy, put the Earth at the center of the universe and “held sway” into the early modern age, which placed human beings at the center of the universe.

The geocentric story, was gradually replaced by the heliocentric story of Nicolaus Copernicus (1473–1543) which put the Sun at the center of the universe.

There was much resistance to the heliocentric story of Copernicus because it was one people were not as comfortable with it as the geocentric story of Ptolemy with human beings at the center of the universe.

Some Christian theologians were reluctant to reject a traditional story like Ptolemy’s that agreed with Biblical passages. Others simply felt a new, unknown story, like Copernicus’ couldn’t replace the generally accepted story of geocentrism. Eventually the heliocentric story of Copernicus was fleshed-out and judged to be “the best story” but…