ERIC Gendle was invited to name one scientist burned at the stake for saying the Earth goes around the sun, and the name he comes up with is "Bruno Giordani" (HAS, Apr 3).

Giordano Bruno, if that's who he means, was not a scientist but a philosopher and occultist who travelled Europe in the late 1500s, igniting controversy and upsetting the authorities.

He certainly believed the Earth goes round the sun, as did a growing number of people at the time, none of whom, apart from himself, was persecuted (Galileo's case occurred later and Galileo was not tortured or executed).

Bruno was burned at the stake in 1600, not for this particular belief, rather for general unorthodoxy and heresy. His fate was tragic, but those were dangerous times and he could have avoided it with a little tact and discretion.

In fairness to him, he was a considerable thinker whose ideas were ahead of their time - though arrived at by philosophical speculation rather than scientific investigation. He met his terrible end with great dignity and courage.

Tony Kelly, Crook, Co Durham.