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Astronomy: Galileo Galilei
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Galileo Galilei was born near Pisa in 1564. It was the same year in which Shakespeare was born and the year in which Michelangelo and Calvin died. After studying at the University of Pisa, Galilei was appointed to the chair of mathematics. Galileo is known by his gravity experiments on the leaning tower of Pisa. He proved the theory that heavier objects fall faster than lighter objects (the Aristotle's theory about falling objects) to be wrong. When in 1604 a supernova appeared Galileo gave lectures opposing the Aristotle theory that the heavens were perfect, immutable and unchanging. First telescopeIn July 1609 Galileo made his first telescope. He discovered stars which were never seen before, mountains on the Moon, four moons around Jupiter and made observations of Saturn's rings.He published his findings in a book named Siderius Nuncius (Starry Messenger) which caused an overnight sensation. He was then appointed Chief Mathematician and Philosopher to the Grand Duke of Tuscany in Florence. All of these and other discoveries posed direct challenges to Aristotle's idea of the perfection of the heavens. Some Aristotelian astronomers refused to look through Galileo's telescope, others tried to deny what he had seen. The Roman catholic church was becoming increasingly concerned, especially because Galileo's observations seemed to support the Copernican theory. Inquisition in RomeWhile writing a new book the Pope advised Galileo to proceed cautiously and speak only hypothetically about the Copernican theory. When this book was publised in 1632 it raised an immediate storm of protest leading immediately to Galileo's arrest and famous trial by the Inquisition in Rome.Galileo was sentenced to life imprisonment, which he spent for the most part at his own villa at Arcetri near Florence under the surveillance of the Inquisition. Discourses on the Two New SciencesGalileo now undertook his last work Discourses on the Two New Sciences, which can be described as the cornerstone of modern physics. It was smuggled out of Italy to France, and published in Leyden in 1638.In this book, Galileo presented the true laws of accelerated motion and falling bodies, as well as the fundamental theory of projectile motion and important applications of mathematics to a host of physical problems. Galileo died in 1642 at the age of 77. Related subjects>> Galileo spacecraft>> Saturn >> Nicolaus Copernicus |
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