A Short Introduction of Galileo Galilei
Wednesday, January 14th, 2009 Subscribe To Our Feed
Near the end of the 16th century, a man named Galileo was born in Italy. He first became a math teacher even though he had no degree in the subject, and here he began his path to greatness. A baby step towards Galileo Galilei astronomy was when he demonstrated to students that different weight objects fell at the same speed, counter to Aristotle’s teachings. Aristotle was so popular that Galileo soon lost his teaching job, and so sought work in Padua. His entry into astronomy would come to fruition there.
He began to study Physics and invented a new measuring device, the compass. He expanded his work on falling bodies, writing formula to describe them as well as the parabolic path of projectiles. These became very important in astronomy, later. But at the time Galileo claimed to have no interest in the subject other than that he believed the work of Copernicus rather than that of Aristotle and Ptolemy. It was Copernicus who first described a solar system in which planets orbit the sun. Aristotle and Ptolemy held that the solar system was centered around the Earth, and even the sun rotated around our home. As time went by Copernicus, and Galileo, were proven correct.
When the spyglass was invented in Holland, Galileo learned of it and made his own telescope which he turned to the sky. With a magnification of 20, this telescope helped Galileo discover mountains and craters on the moon. He also saw, for the first time, the individual stars that made up the Milky Way. He also saw four large moons orbiting Jupiter. He published his findings and became the court mathematician in Florence. No longer having to earn a living teaching, he could spend more time exploring. It took him only 9 months to discover Saturn’s phases. This was another nail in the coffin for Ptolemy’s and Aristotle’s ideas about the solar system.
Galileo had a long standing feud with Aristotle’s beliefs and teachings. Galileo found a great deal of support with other modern scientists who wrote of his work. But because Aristotle’s work elevated man to key position in all the universe, the church supported his work. Galileo Galilei astronomy fell into disfavor and was denounced by the Church in 1614. Galileo responded by writing a letter proclaiming the bible irrelevant to science. A cardinal demanded Galileo stop talking about a moving Earth. Galileo continued with other studies but in regard to the solar system, obeyed the order. It was upon signing a document stating the Earth is stationary Galileo uttered a famous quote. “I would say here something that was heard from an ecclesiastic of the most eminent degree; “And yet … it moves.”
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