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Galileo and the scientific revolution
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Galileo Galilei: Changing the World One Experiment at a Time Inventor and astronomer Galileo Galilei is one of the most well-known scientists in the history of the world. Galileo has been credited for many astonishing inventions such as the pendulum and the telescope. Through many years of research and studious acts, he discovered behaviors of the universe that still hold true today. Galileo, “the Father of Modern Science”, changed the world. Galileo was born in February of 1564 to a poor family that resided in Pisa, Italy. Galileo’s father was a composer and musical therapist, but he also supported his family through working in the wool trade. Galileo and his family moved to Florence, Italy in the 1570s, and here Galileo began to attend …show more content…
Galileo brought Aristotle’s errors into the light of his pupils, and a rage broke out. Aristotle’s followers refused to believe Galileo, even though the evidence was right in front of them. After many days of argument and experiment, the opinions of Galileo’s opponents remained unchanged (Galileo). Galileo, aware of the truth of his own doctrine, started to show his superiority through ridicule and sarcasm, which eventually lead to him being persecuted by his pupils. Galileo ended up leaving Pisa out of embarrassment (Slitcher).
After leaving Pisa, Galileo took a few small teaching jobs to earn money. During this time, Galileo began to study objects in motion. He ended up studying this topic for over twenty years. Also during this time, Galileo published a book titled The Little Balance where he described the hydrostatic properties of weighing small objects. The publishing of this book brought Galileo a lot of fame
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After his book was published, Galileo was tried by the Inquisition because his findings went against what the Holy Scripture said, stating that everything revolves around Earth. Galileo was said to be “sinning” by publishing this work, and he was accused of trying to prove the Bible wrong. His book later became banned (Leveillee).
In 1613, after his book was banned, Galileo decided to write a letter to a student explaining that his findings did not contradict the Bible because scripture was, “written from an earthly perspective” and his findings were just more accurate (Galileo). The letter was made public, and after the church Inquisition consultants read it, they ordered Galileo to not “hold, teach, or defend in any manner” this theory. Galileo, to avoid fuss, obeyed the rules (Leveillee).
Because of his discoveries and eighteen years of experience teaching at Padua, Galileo grew more and more famous, and his salary had almost tripled. Galileo caught word one summer afternoon of a mechanism that existed in the Netherlands that could make distant objects appear closer. Intrigued by the idea, he decided to make one of these contraptions of his own. To do this, Galileo used spectacle lenses, which at first only magnified things two to three times their size, but Galileo then improved this to eight or nine times their size
Galileo even as a boy seemed destined to challenge the scientific thought of the day. He has often been characterized as a pioneer of rebellion against authority. If that was true then he was only following in his father’s footsteps. His Father, a revolutionary man in the world of music who spoke out against the music theories of his day, was quoted as saying, "It appears to me that those who try to prove an assertion by relying simply on the weight of authority act very absurdly" (White, 196). Galileo continued in his father’s rebellion against contemporary views with his support of a helio-centric-universe, a view previously argued by Copernicus, but for the most part ignored by scientists for its contradiction with the established, church-endorsed system of Ptolemy.
Galileo's objections to using the bible where very clear. He objected to using the bible as a source of knowledge of physical things because it would not always speak the truth on the surface. He feels that the truth and meaning lie underneath what is actually written down on the page. He believes we must use our senses God gave us to find the truth in the bible. He thinks the bible leads us to the abandonment of reason and our senses.
Galileo received harsh criticism for this theory since it went against the church’s beliefs and teachings. In his letter to Madame Cristina de Lorena, Galileo explains he thought the clergymen were “displaying greater affection for their own opinions than for true ones” meaning that they too intolerant to accept the truth found in science. Instead of embracing theories developed through experimentation, Galileo claimed the priests hid behind the Scripture without providing proof of its claims. Religious figureheads believed that since the bible said that the Earth revolves around the Sun, Galileo was going against the bible and God. However, Galileo maintained that the bible should be read symbolically since its claims are clearly not scientifically true. Galileo insisted that the bible was written in such a way so that everyone would be able to understand it through figurative lessons and explanations and thus should not be interpreted
In his Letter to The Grand Duchess Christina, Galileo challenged the widely accepted religious beliefs of the time, claiming that the conflict lies in their interpretation, not the context. In Galileo’s eyes science was an extremely useful tool that could and should have been used in interpreting the Scriptures. He argued that “the intention of the Holy Ghost is to teach us how one goes to heaven not how heaven goes” (Grand Duchess). The purpose of science was not to counter what the bible teaches; rather its purpose was to help explain the teachings of the scriptures. Furthermore, it was “prudent to affirm that the holy Bible can never speak untruth-whenever its true meaning is understood” (Grand Duchess). However, because of the terminology in which the bible was presented the perception of what the Scripture defined as truth was skewed. The Bible was written so that the common man could understand it and follow its commandments. The people also showed a greater inte...
Galileo Galilei was an Italian scientist, often referred to as “the father of modern physics”. He was one of the inventors of the telescope and a strong proponent of Copernicanism. Galileo used his invention to make astronomical observations which supported Copernicus’ heliocentric model of the universe. These discoveries led to a fierce dispute, because they contradicted the theory which was prevalent at the time – that the universe followed a geocentric model, a theory, which had been accepted by the Catholic Church. To address this dispute, Galileo wrote a letter to Tuscany’s Grand Duchess Christina, in which he presented his position on the relation between science and religion, stating that the Bible does not contradict science.
The church felt threatened by Galileo continuing to disobey their orders, they were afraid of the population, now able to read Galileo’s findings in his own words, would spread this “heresy”. If these discoveries spread, and the Catholic Church was indeed found to be incorrect in their teachings, their credibility would be diminished. This would have an even greater impact since they had been fighting against these scientific findings for so long. The split between the Catholic Church and the scientists had massive effects on the future of scientific discoveries.
To speak out against the Church in this time was strictly taboo. If one spoke against the Church, it was considered heresy, which is exactly what happened to Galileo. Galileo invented the telescope and began studying the heavens above and noticed changes within the stars and planets. He observed that the "stars" that surrounded Jupiter moved. He came to the conclusion through rational thinking that Copernicus' heliocentric theory was correct.
... 1609, when Galileo destroyed Aristotle's mechanical model of the universe, was his authority on scientific theory truly undermined. So strong was Aristotle's grip on the science of the time, that Galileo was subsequently tried by the church as a heretic for disagreeing with his theories.
Sir Isaac Newton was born in Woolsthorpe, England on January 4, 1643. He was underdeveloped and very small as a baby, being born a couple months premature to his mother, Hannah Newton. From the time he was a toddler, Newton lived with his grandmother (his father died three months prior to his birth and his mother moved away to get remarried to prosperous minister). Newton would fill his need for parents with God. As a boy, he studied the Bible for days on end, finding inspiration and developing his spiritual character. In fact, his grandmother decided she would enroll him in a school for the mentoring of future ministers. These events would cause Newton to develop a relentless work ethic.
Galileo finally made the discovery that changed the world. He was able to prove the copernican theory by taking a chance and pointing the
Imagine a world with no clocks, thermometer, or telescopes. A world where everyone believes the earth remains still as the sun revolves around it once each day. This world was the one of Galileo Galilei, in which he conducted many scientific experiments by devising his own methods to keep time and measure distance. Through observation, experimentation, mathematics, and a great deal of ingenuity, Galileo made extraordinary scientific discoveries, and became known as the father of modern science.
As you know, Galileo was in the Renaissance Period, where people believed in their religion greatly. Galileo believed in his religion greatly as well, but when he heard the Bible passages from the Roman Catholic Church, he denied that the Earth was the center of the solar system. Galileo helped us learn that you should achieve or prove what you think is right. The Church warned Galileo many times, but he didn’t give up his work. The Church had delayed Galileo’s work on Physics and Astronomy. The Church was in scientific authority at that time, thus the rules of Astronomy and Physics were set, but for Galileo to prove his understanding, he had to recreate the rules. The Church had banned Galileo of all his work. But as time went, the Church couldn’t deny the science behind Galileo’s work and released the prohibition put on Galileo's
Galileo used this great invention to report astronomical facts such as the moon is cover with craters instead of being smooth, the Milky Way is composed of millions of stars, and Jupiter have four moons. Perhaps the most famous discovery is the Earth revolves around the Sun and the Earth is not the center of the universe (even though he was discredited at the time).
In 1612, he published his Discourse on Bodies in Water, refuting the Aristotelian explanation of why objects float in water, saying that it wasn’t because of their flat shape, but instead the weight of the object in relation to the water it displaced. In 1623, a friend of Galileo, Cardinal Maffeo Barberini, was selected as Pope Urban VIII. He allowed Galileo to pursue his work on astronomy and even encouraged him to publish it. but it had to be on one condition, it be objective and not advocate Copernican theory.
Galileo was probably the greatest astronomer, mathematician and scientist of his time. In fact his work has been very important in many scientific advances even to this day.