NIck - you need to fix your sig. Your historical facts are a little skewed.
I believe Galileo was not inprisoned, I think he was placed under house arrest (confinded to his home).
and Im pretty sure Copernicus wasnt executed - he was reluctant to publish his ideas - and they were not taken very seriously until after his death.
another scientist, Giordano Bruno, was burned at the stake, for asserting space was infinite, and that other suns and solar systems, and earth like planets existed.
See:
http://www.blupete.com/Literature/Bi...Copernicus.htm