BrazJOtorhinolaryngol.2017;83(5):497
www.bjorl.org
Brazilian
Journal
of
OTORHINOLARYNGOLOGY
EDITORIAL
The
meta-analysis
夽
A
metanálise
In 1543, a meta-analysis was proposed by the Catholic Churchtoconfirmordenythetheoryofgeocentrism(i.e., theEarthasthecenteroftheuniverse)asmentionedinthe scriptures. There were rumors that oneindividual named Nicolaus Copernicus,a Pole, wassuggesting that the sun, andnottheearth,wasthecenteroftheuniverse.
The meta-analysis was commissioned by Cardinal St. RobertBelarmino (RobertoFrancescoRomolo Bellarmino), of the Holy Inquisition, to famous statisticians, at the requestofPopeClementVII,aimingtoelucidatethematter onceandforall.
ThemainworkswerethosebyGreekphilosopherand sci-entistAristotle,writtenaround300BC,andthoseofGreek astronomer,geographer,andmathematicianHipparchusin 190 BC,aswell asmany othersthat preceded it, suchas thosebySumerian,Babylonian,Egyptian,Chinese,andIndus Valleyastronomers(Mayanastronomywasnotyetknown). Theworksthatcameafterthem,suchasthosebyClaudius Ptolemy, in Alexandria in 90 BC and those by the Arab astrologerAlbumasarin 886AD, amongothersless known butnolessimportant,werealsocollected.Theworkshad beencarriedoutoveraperiodof2500years.
Foranadequatemeta-analysis,alltheworksdealtwith thesamesubjectandhadthesamemethodology;thatis,the detailedobservationofthesky, eitherbydayor bynight. Only 285 of the first 1636 works were selected, asmany ofthemwerelostbetweendistrustfuldivineconsiderations andinadequatetranslations.Itwasobserved,after statis-ticalandevidence-basedcalculations,theobviousrotation ofthesun,moon,andstarswasaroundtheearth.Hence, thenumbersdidnotlieandthechurch’sgeocentrictheory wasproven correctthroughan unsuspectedmeta-analysis ofhundredsofworks.TheStateoftheartinastronomyand geophysics.
夽 Pleasecitethisarticleas:RibeiroFA.Themeta-analysis.BrazJ
Otorhinolaryngol.2017;83:497.
Atthistime,inthemidstoftheRenaissance,the afore-mentioned Nicolaus Copernicus was almost arrested for blasphemy.Persecutedandsick,hepresentedhiswork‘‘De RevolutionibusOrbiumCoelestium’’,whichdoesnotrequire translation,andthereafterhesoondied.
Afterhisdeath, allwhobelievedinheliocentrismwere fiercelypersecutedbytheChurch.Oneofthemwas Gior-dano Bruno, who was burned alive by the inquisition for notrecanting his ideas. Another wasGalileo Galilei who, toavoidhavingthesameend,hadtosweartoPopeUrban VIIIthattheEarth wasthe centerofthe universeanddid notmovearoundthesun;heutteredquietlybeforegoingto thedungeon:‘‘eppursimove’’(translatedfromthearchaic Romanlanguage---butitdoesmove!).
Nonetheless,theworldcontinuedtospinand,sometime later,Keplercametoconfirmandimproveupontheconcept ofheliocentrism.
Well... after that came Isaac Newton, Einstein,NASA,
theBigBang,theHubble,quantumphysics,andwhoknows whatelsewillcome.
Conclusion
Donot‘‘religiously’’believeinallmeta-analyses,anddonot unconsciouslyburnthenon-believinganddivergentonesat thestake.
Conflicts
of
interest
Theauthordeclaresnoconflictsofinterest.
FernandodeAndradeQuintanilhaRibeiro
FaculdadedeMedicinadaSantaCasadeSãoPaulo,São
Paulo,SP,Brazil
E-mail:[email protected]
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bjorl.2017.06.001
