By Carter Hausen
10/5/2021
Galileo Galilei was one of the most influential astrologers, scientists, and mathematicians who helped create the Scientific Revolution. He taught the world to question, research, and learn. Galileo made many discoveries about mass, volume, and acceleration.
He discovered that the speed of a falling object was not determined by the mass of the object. He discovered the four moons that orbit around Jupiter. He discovered sunspots. He discovered that the moon and other planets have imperfections.
Galileo was born in 1564 to Vincenzo Galilei and Giulia Ammannati in Pisa, Italy. Vincenzo had a math education, but regretted it strongly because there was no reason for math. It had no practical use. Vincenzo tried to keep Galileo from being exposed to it, though when Galileo was sent to Pisa University, he learned about it and decided to dedicate his time to math and science. Vincenzo had his math education then became a musician then moved to Florence, Italy to start a new wool business so he could earn more money.
From the time Galileo was a boy to when he was sixteen years old, the latter was tutored privately and lived with the monks of Vallomb, especially concerning the teachings of Aristotle. Yes, Aristotle was an amazing philosopher, mathematician, and scientist. Aristotle taught the world many things, many of which were correct, but not everything was accurate. Galileo also taught that you should not believe something that cannot or has not been proven. He returned at age sixteen (1580) to enroll for a medical degree at the University of Pisa. Galileo soon changed his education goal so he could study mathematics.
After leaving college, Galileo worked as a private mathematics tutor. In 1588, Galileo applied for a professorship in Bologna, but was not accepted. He was soon accepted at the University of Pisa as a lecturer. In 1592, Galileo received a much higher salary job at the University of Padua in the Venetian Republic.
Galileo discovered some things about mass, gravity, and acceleration that changed the way we think about these forever. The length of time it takes for a pendulum to swing depends solely on the length of the string that the pendulum swings from. The mass of the pendulum, the density and of the pendulum are not factors. When Galileo discovered that it does not matter what the mass or density of a pendulum is, he realized that it may apply to a falling object as well.
Galileo decided to test this theory (now known as the law of free fall) by dropping many objects of different sizes, weights, and densities of different items from the same height on the Tower of Pisa with the assistance of his students. He first attempted to represent this phenomenon with a velocity-distance relation, and the equivalent mean proportional relation. He later correctly defined that the longer matter falls, the more it picks up speed.
Galileo improved and invented many things. Galileo supplemented his income by selling a calculating instrument that he invented. Galileo also improved a toy called a 'looking glass'. At first, when you looked through the looking glass, the image looked distorted and upside down. Galileo reinvented it and made the image look clear and right-side up. He then pointed it toward the sky in 1609. Now, it is called the telescope. Galileo made more telescopes and sold them so people can see what he had seen, so he could prove that Jupiter had four moons and that the heavens, planets, and stars have imperfections.
He made many new discoveries very quickly with his new telescope. He discovered that Jupiter has four moons, that the moon has imperfections, that the sun has sunspots, thousands of stars, star clusters, nebulae, the rotation of the sun, the phases of Venus, and many other discoveries.
Galileo had some trouble with the Catholic church in later parts of his life. Galileo's friend, the Pope, gave Galileo permission to publish a book about discoveries that the latter had found if Galileo published his ideas as theories and did not say that his ideas were true and the 'facts' of the church were false. Galileo published his book, the Dialogue. It seems that he did not write the book exactly the way the pope had told him, and Galileo spent the rest of his life in house arrest. While he was imprisoned, Galileo wrote another book named: Discorsi e dimostrazioni matematiche, intorno a due nuove scienze (English translation: Discourses and mathematical demonstrations, around two new sciences).
I believe that Galileo Galilei was a very important man in the advancement of the industrial revolution. I hope this post was helpful. Thanks for reading!
Bibliography:
Machamer, P., & Miller, D. M. (2021, June 21). Galileo Galilei. Retrieved September 27, 2021, from Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/galileo/
Leidal, A. (n.d.). Galileo Galilei and the Scientific Revolution. Denver: University of Colorado Denver. Retrieved September 27, 2021, from https://clas.ucdenver.edu/nhdc/sites/default/files/attached-files/entry_148.pdf
Slocum, F. (1933, June). Galileo Galilei, a Pioneer in Scientific Research. Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, XLV(265), 103-104. Retrieved September 27, 2021, from http://adsabs.harvard.edu/full/1933PASP...45..103S
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