Galileo is perhaps one of just four scientists in history ever to have become household names in the English speaking world. The other three, Charles Darwin, Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein can probably be bracketed together as pure scientists. Galileo, on the other hand, was an inventor, as well as a scientist.
Born on 15 February 1564, at Pisa in Italy, his father was Vincenzo Galilei. Although now remembered primarily as a musician, the latter was also no mean physicist himself, and made lasting contributions in the field of physics.
It might seem odd to some today, the Galilei family, including Galileo himself, were all devoutly religious people. Admittedly, that did not prevent Galileo fathering three illegitimate children by a woman he met in Venice and who subsequently lived with him in Padua. As was common at the time, his two illegitimate daughters were sent to a convent to become nuns; there being no real prospect of marriage for them, and life as nuns being the only respectable alternative. It should not, however, be thought that his daughters resented the life to which they had been committed. The evidence tells against that, and Galileo had warm relations with at least one of them right up until the time of his death.
Early on in life Galileo had considered training for the Catholic priesthood, but he instead entered Pisa's university in 1581 to take a medical degree. Then, having second thoughts, he instead turned his attention towards philosophy and mathematics. In the other role for which he is noted, as an inventor, Galileo was responsible for a crude thermometer, a greatly improved military compass, and, without too much exaggeration, it can be said that he was also the inventor of the telescope. Although an earlier telescope had been constructed, it had only proven capable of three times magnification, compared with the twenty times magnification Galileo's telescope achieved. It was this latter invention which provided the initial impetus for the dispute that eventually led to his downfall, and condemnation for heresy.
Through the use of his telescope, in 1610 Galileo was enabled to discover the three moons which orbit Jupiter. This discovery implanted in his mind the idea that there could be celestial bodies which did not orbit the earth, and subsequently he became receptive to the heliocentric ideas of Copernicus and Johannes Kepler. This was a view which was generally dismissed as at best eccentric, by the scientific community of the time. It has to be said that Galileo's support for it was partly based upon a scientifically erroneous theory of his. Decades prior to the publication of Newton's three laws of motion, Galileo had come up with the idea that the tides were caused when the seas tried to remain motionless (in accordance with Newton's third law of motion), whilst the earth rotated beneath them. Kepler's (correct) view that the tides were caused by the gravitational pull of the moon had been dismissed by him as fanciful.
The view of the Bible held by Galileo was similar to that of St Augustine: Namely that whilst it was the supreme authority in matters relating to theology and Christian orthodoxy, it could not be relied upon as a source of scientific knowledge, and that it would be foolish to try and use it in that way. But in the early seventeenth century, that was not how everybody in the Catholic Church viewed the matter. In 1614 Galileo heard of a priest, by the name of Father Tommaso Caccini, who had denounced him and his ideas from the pulpit, and who had used passages from the Bible as the grounds for his denunciation. So intemperate was Caccini's attack that Galileo even received a letter of apology from the head of the priest's Dominican Order. In response, Galileo published an open letter in which he made plain his opinion that the Bible was no source of scientific information, and that it was not the business of theologians to pronounce upon scientific truth.
The following year one Cardinal Bellarmine wrote that he did not think that the heliocentric view could be accepted without real physical evidence becoming available. Galileo thought that his theory about the cause of the tides provided that evidence, and said so. Then in 1616, the same Venetian priest, who had attacked Galileo in such intemperate terms, came back on the scene and denounced him to the Inquisition. On the orders of the Pope, Galileo was warned by Cardinal Bellarmine to desist from promoting the heliocentric theory. Galileo promised to remain silent on the subject, and there the matter rested for the next few years.
Then, for a time it looked as though the fortunes of Galileo, and other supporters of the heliocentric theory, might change. In 1623 Galileo's friend Cardinal Maffeo Barberini became Pope Urban VIII. With much broader sympathies than his predecessor, the new Pope had many private discussions with Galileo about the merits of the heliocentric theory, and seemed genuinely open to debate about new ideas in the areas of science, philosophy and elsewhere, whilst he nevertheless made it clear that he personally remained committed to the geocentric view of the world. Encouraged by this new openness, Galileo wrote his Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems, and he had the Pope's explicit permission to do so. The only requirement placed upon him was that he should present arguments both for and against the heliocentric theory, and refrain from expressing his own opinion. Unfortunately Galileo was not wholly successful in complying with that request.
The arguments of those who favoured a geocentric view of the world were put, by Galileo, into the mouth of a character he christened Simplicius - so called after a sixth century Aristotelian philosopher by that name. Galileo was suspected of a deliberate double entendre, because the similarly sounding Italian word "Semplice" can roughly be translated as "Simpleton". Whether the insult was intentional or not, the Pope took it as a personal affront, and Galileo lost by far his most powerful ally. His position was further not helped by the fact that the Pope had been under attack from conservatives within the Church, who thought he had been far too lenient with the people they regarded as heretics.
In 1633 Galileo was called to Rome to stand trial for heresy. Having been found guilty, he was required to "abjure, curse and detest" the opinions he had spent the previous twenty years trying to defend, and he was sentenced to life imprisonment; later commuted to life under house arrest. Following his trial Galileo continued to write until he went blind in 1638. He died of natural causes on 8 January 1642.
You can read more articles like this one at Famous Names in History
Born on 15 February 1564, at Pisa in Italy, his father was Vincenzo Galilei. Although now remembered primarily as a musician, the latter was also no mean physicist himself, and made lasting contributions in the field of physics.
It might seem odd to some today, the Galilei family, including Galileo himself, were all devoutly religious people. Admittedly, that did not prevent Galileo fathering three illegitimate children by a woman he met in Venice and who subsequently lived with him in Padua. As was common at the time, his two illegitimate daughters were sent to a convent to become nuns; there being no real prospect of marriage for them, and life as nuns being the only respectable alternative. It should not, however, be thought that his daughters resented the life to which they had been committed. The evidence tells against that, and Galileo had warm relations with at least one of them right up until the time of his death.
Early on in life Galileo had considered training for the Catholic priesthood, but he instead entered Pisa's university in 1581 to take a medical degree. Then, having second thoughts, he instead turned his attention towards philosophy and mathematics. In the other role for which he is noted, as an inventor, Galileo was responsible for a crude thermometer, a greatly improved military compass, and, without too much exaggeration, it can be said that he was also the inventor of the telescope. Although an earlier telescope had been constructed, it had only proven capable of three times magnification, compared with the twenty times magnification Galileo's telescope achieved. It was this latter invention which provided the initial impetus for the dispute that eventually led to his downfall, and condemnation for heresy.
Through the use of his telescope, in 1610 Galileo was enabled to discover the three moons which orbit Jupiter. This discovery implanted in his mind the idea that there could be celestial bodies which did not orbit the earth, and subsequently he became receptive to the heliocentric ideas of Copernicus and Johannes Kepler. This was a view which was generally dismissed as at best eccentric, by the scientific community of the time. It has to be said that Galileo's support for it was partly based upon a scientifically erroneous theory of his. Decades prior to the publication of Newton's three laws of motion, Galileo had come up with the idea that the tides were caused when the seas tried to remain motionless (in accordance with Newton's third law of motion), whilst the earth rotated beneath them. Kepler's (correct) view that the tides were caused by the gravitational pull of the moon had been dismissed by him as fanciful.
The view of the Bible held by Galileo was similar to that of St Augustine: Namely that whilst it was the supreme authority in matters relating to theology and Christian orthodoxy, it could not be relied upon as a source of scientific knowledge, and that it would be foolish to try and use it in that way. But in the early seventeenth century, that was not how everybody in the Catholic Church viewed the matter. In 1614 Galileo heard of a priest, by the name of Father Tommaso Caccini, who had denounced him and his ideas from the pulpit, and who had used passages from the Bible as the grounds for his denunciation. So intemperate was Caccini's attack that Galileo even received a letter of apology from the head of the priest's Dominican Order. In response, Galileo published an open letter in which he made plain his opinion that the Bible was no source of scientific information, and that it was not the business of theologians to pronounce upon scientific truth.
The following year one Cardinal Bellarmine wrote that he did not think that the heliocentric view could be accepted without real physical evidence becoming available. Galileo thought that his theory about the cause of the tides provided that evidence, and said so. Then in 1616, the same Venetian priest, who had attacked Galileo in such intemperate terms, came back on the scene and denounced him to the Inquisition. On the orders of the Pope, Galileo was warned by Cardinal Bellarmine to desist from promoting the heliocentric theory. Galileo promised to remain silent on the subject, and there the matter rested for the next few years.
Then, for a time it looked as though the fortunes of Galileo, and other supporters of the heliocentric theory, might change. In 1623 Galileo's friend Cardinal Maffeo Barberini became Pope Urban VIII. With much broader sympathies than his predecessor, the new Pope had many private discussions with Galileo about the merits of the heliocentric theory, and seemed genuinely open to debate about new ideas in the areas of science, philosophy and elsewhere, whilst he nevertheless made it clear that he personally remained committed to the geocentric view of the world. Encouraged by this new openness, Galileo wrote his Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems, and he had the Pope's explicit permission to do so. The only requirement placed upon him was that he should present arguments both for and against the heliocentric theory, and refrain from expressing his own opinion. Unfortunately Galileo was not wholly successful in complying with that request.
The arguments of those who favoured a geocentric view of the world were put, by Galileo, into the mouth of a character he christened Simplicius - so called after a sixth century Aristotelian philosopher by that name. Galileo was suspected of a deliberate double entendre, because the similarly sounding Italian word "Semplice" can roughly be translated as "Simpleton". Whether the insult was intentional or not, the Pope took it as a personal affront, and Galileo lost by far his most powerful ally. His position was further not helped by the fact that the Pope had been under attack from conservatives within the Church, who thought he had been far too lenient with the people they regarded as heretics.
In 1633 Galileo was called to Rome to stand trial for heresy. Having been found guilty, he was required to "abjure, curse and detest" the opinions he had spent the previous twenty years trying to defend, and he was sentenced to life imprisonment; later commuted to life under house arrest. Following his trial Galileo continued to write until he went blind in 1638. He died of natural causes on 8 January 1642.
You can read more articles like this one at Famous Names in History
