Galileo's Discoveries of How Things Work Essay

Explain Galileo’s attempt to make science and religion compatible, with particular reference to methods of justification. How successful is he? Use Kuhn’s notion of incommensurability to investigate Galileo’s attempt to reconcile the propositions of science and religion.

The Letter to the Grand Duchess Christina of Tuscany was written by Galileo Galilei in 1615. Galileo was an Italian scientist that began making new discoveries in the heavens in 1609. He discovered many things that did not coincide with the teaching of the church.

The Catholic church has performed many acts of injustice in order to retain their power and influence throughout the world. One of the most prominent acts in the world of science was the prosecution of Galileo Galilei. Galileo had become the father of modern science, due to his scientific breakthroughs revolutionizing modern technology. However, Galileo’s supporting argument for the Copernican heliocentric theory of the universe had caught the Church’s attention, and they would go on to accuse Galileo of heresy, forcing him to spend the rest of his life under house arrest. The battle between Galileo and the Holy Office was a long and treacherous one with Galileo being condemned not once, but twice. This led to a

Galileo Galilei, a distinguished polymath that contributed to the commence of modern sciences was accounted to be a heretic. In the year, 1609, the astronomer proposed a new theory reckoned as heliocentrism, the idea that claims that the Earth and other planets revolve around the Sun. His theory contradicted the belief of the Catholic Church who under the influence of the Bible, believed in the theory geocentrism, therefore accounting him as a heretic. Galileo Galilei is not a heretic because his theories were based on clear empirical observations, that scientifically proved his ideas. Galileo Galilei was believed to be a heretic for opposing the belief of the Catholic Church, despite him being scientifically correct.

A major work published in 1632 resulted in Galileo's conviction on suspension of heresy and a lifetime house arrest. Galileo built his first telescope at the age of 46. He focused mainly on physics, and astronomy. Galileo was mountains, valleys, and other features indicating change on the moon.

Galileo knew exactly what he liked and decided to focus on it, and all that focus led to many discoveries that have impacted modern life today. Also, Galileo’s family was part of nobility, but they weren’t as rich as other nobles. This life gave Galileo his basic provisions, but he wasn’t spoiled, so he learned to think for himself and pursue his interests. Because Galileo didn’t have to worry about providing for his younger siblings or parents like other peasants might, he was pretty much set, and had the time and money for school. Receiving an education from childhood might have sparked his interest in science and math early on, and might have helped him learn faster in the future. Next, Galileo was appointed as the mathematics professor at the University of Padua in 1592. Teaching mathematics might have helped deepen Galileo’s understanding of the subject, which would have helped him develop his theories and make discoveries. He might have been inspired by one of his students, or found a different way of thinking of the topic by becoming so familiar with it. Finally, the fact that Galileo got his hands on

Galileo started to teach little classes on mathematics and physiology. He later published a book called, Little Balance. This book made Galileo well known. The University of Pisa then asked Galilei if he would like to become a professor, Galileo accepted the job quickly. Galileo was very happy in how far he has come. He became very wealthy off this job.

One of Galileo’s inventions is the pendulum clock. In 1602, Galileo recorded his observation that a pendulum has a constant period. He then tested this hypothesis and came up with the conclusion that it is true. 39 years later, Galileo came up with the idea that the pendulum could be used to keep track of time. Since the pendulum had a constant period, Galileo used the swing of the pendulum to lift a “pawl”, which allows a gear to turn for a certain amount, until the

All the fame that The Little Balance brought him, in 1609 Galileo published The Operations of the Geometrical and Military Compass. Shortly after his second book was published Galileo constructed a hydrostatic balance for measuring small objects. These developments brought him additional income and more recognition. Galileo never believed in the law of Aristotle, he worked countless years on his own theories. Finally in 1609 Galileo refined his theories on motion and falling objects, and developed the universal law of acceleration. Which from all the trials that he had to do proved that his law applied to all the objects in the universe. Galileo began speaking up about Copernican theory, which stated that all the planes including earth revolve around the sun not all the way around as Aristotle has hypothesizes over 2,000 years ago. Going against the law of Aristotle not only upset many people but it also went against the order set by the Catholic

Prior to Galileo’s time, the Greek and medieval mind, science was a kind of formalism, a means of coordinating data, which had no bearing on the ultimate reality of things. The point was to give order to complicated data, and all that mattered was the hypothesis that was simplest to understand and most convenient. Astronomy and mathematics were regarded as the playthings of intellectuals. They were accounted as having neither philosophical nor theological relevance. There was genuine puzzlement among Churchmen that they had to get involved in a quarrel over planetary orbits.

The Trial of Galileo The trial of Galileo is an important event in the history of science. We now know, the Roman Catholic church now recognizes, that Galileo's view was correct. What were the arguments on both sides of the issue as it was unfolding? Search the web for documents that chronicle the trial and discuss briefly the case for and against Galileo in the context of the times in which the trial occurred.

for people to accept. But when the actual facts are looked at it is very easy

In summer of 1609, Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) pointed his revolutionary astronomical telescope to the heavens under the starry Venetian sky; his greatly important observations unveiled the mysteries of universe and would end up changing the course of scientific thought forever. Galileo lived in an age where there was much status quo, when scientists and philosophers would accept scientific and religious doctrine that had stood for hundreds, if not thousands, of years instead of challenging the accepted knowledge in favor of intellectual progress. Galileo’s scientific methods lead to significant discoveries explaining key scientific laws, such as the

The scientific revolution was one of the greatest times in the 16th century and its ideals have proved to last to this very day. The great minds of the scientific revolution brought forth new concepts and vastly complex while each one is rooted in a basic fundamental. Some of these ideas and fundamentals were of the outside world, aka space, the planet and the stars, motion, and physics. One of the best minds of this time was, of course, Galileo Galilei. This great astronomer was a marvel at his work, he introduced controversial concepts that the church did not accept but those that he believed were to be true. Written by Galileo himself, this letter to the Grand Duchess professed his great discoveries and how they changed old ideas and

Though he was developing and testing his theories, Galileo was not exposed to mathematics but was intrigued in the subject after attending a geometry lecture. He then began to study mathematics and natural philosophy instead of medicine since right before he earned his degree, the university cut him off due to unpaid funds. Returning to Florence, he lectured at the Florentine academy, where he studied and applied his new interests, and in 1586 he published an essay describing his invention of the hydrostatic balance, when fluid is at rest, which made his name known throughout Italy. With his other interest of philosophy, Galileo studied fine arts and received an instructer position in the Accademia delle Arti del Disegno in Florence in 1588 where he met Cigoli, a painter, who applied Galileo’s astronomical observations in his painting. This led Galileo to expand his mentality to be more aesthetic.