Galileo's Mathematical-Experimental Method Essay

Galileo has been credited with the confirmation of the phases of Venus, the discovery of the four largest satellites of Jupiter, and the observation and analysis of sunspots. He also worked in mathematics and with technology, helping to improve the military compass. Galileo was a renaissance man.

Galileo Galilei was a very influential and controversial astronomer, scientist, mathematician, teacher, and physicist. His life began in the sixteenth century and ended in the seventeenth, in which he penned several books that supported the Copernican theory of a heliocentric solar system. In the words of Drake S. (1957) “... the works of Galileo are well written, and throw light upon the origins of modern science…”(Pg. 2) Although Galileo was soon deemed a heretic by the Roman Catholic church, he continued diligently challenging Aristotelian thought and doctrine and expressing his support of the Copernican theory. As he continued to make discoveries that supported this theory, the church continued to label him as a heretic, and eventually

Another important figure in the Scientific Revolution was Galileo Galilei. He was an Italian born professor of mathematics who had a great interest in the workings of the universe. Galileo served as a professor at the University of Padua, and it was during this time that he began to question the accuracy of the Churches representation of the world. Galileo’s approach towards knowledge was much different then the afore mentioned Copernicus. Where as Copernicus presented his finding to the mercy of the church, Galileo wrote his conclusions and left the Roman Catholic Church interpret them as they chose. The very nature of his findings pitted him as an opponent of the church.

Galileo’s findings from his telescopic observations were revolutionary because he showed that the heavens were not perfect.

Galileo was an Italian mathematician and astronomer who developed an improved telescope. He made observations the undermined established understandings of the cosmos. His discovery of Jupiter and many new stars, suggested a cosmos far larger than the finite universe of traditional astronomy. He published his remarkable findings in a book titled The Starry Messenger. (Ways of the World, 557-559)

Galileo was the first European to make systematic observations of the heavens through his improved invention of the telescope. Through his telescope, Galileo made a series of discoveries. Galileo’s observations demolished among the traditional cosmology of what the universe seemed to be composed of. Not only did Galileo make astonishing discoveries, but he was also offered a new position from Grand Duke Cain II of Florence, as his court mathematician. During this time, Galileo was told that he could continue to discuss Copernicanism, as long as he would maintain everything as mathematical supposition, and not as facts. Due to the Inquisitions response, the church attacked the Copernican system since it threaten the Scripture and its’ entire conception of the universe. The new system rose'd much uncertainty that seemed as prudent to simply condemn it. In 1633, Galileo was found guilty of teaching the condemned Copernican system and was then forced to be placed under house arrest. He spent the remaining eight years of life studying mechanics. The principal of motion was the one of the problems that fell under the heading of mechanics. At the end, Galileo made two contributions to the problem of motion. He demonstrated by experimenting uniform force to accelerate

Galileo Galilei was also a supporter of the Copernican Theory. Galileo believed the earth, and other planets, rotated on its axis around the unmoving sun. He used his new invention of the telescope to prove Copernicus’ theory. With the telescope, Galileo found sunspots on the earth’s moon, which gave proof to him that the heavens were not perfect and changeless but were more like the changeable earth. iv He also discovered Jupiter and the four moons that revolved around it. He only discovered one moon revolving around the earth. Galileo therefore stated if Jupiter were to revolve around the earth, then the earth would have to have at least four moons, and it doesn’t. v The Church objected Galileo’s theory because the Bible said the sun moved through the sky. Being totally rejected by the church, Galileo was forced to take back what he had written and was also prevented from any further teachings of his theory. Galileo was condemned by the Catholic Church for his ideas. The Church succeeded in silencing Galileo but couldn’t stop the advancements in science.

Instead, Galileo improved the magnification of the spyglass and used it to look at the sky, creating the telescope. At that time, the spyglass could only magnify objects to three times their original size. Galileo refined the lens, allowing it to magnify things up to first eight, then later, in 1610, 30 times their original size. By using this telescope, he was able to observe the movement of objects in the sky, such as stars and planets, that supported the Copernicus’s theory of heliocentrism - that the sun was the center of the universe. He also found that the moon was not completely smooth, as most people at the time assumed it would be. Instead, it had was bumpy and had hills and

Throughout history, examples of technological advances against the approval of the general populations are in abundance. In the early to mid 1600’s, Galileo Galilei made many scientific and mathematical discoveries. However, in this time period, many did not agree with his claims as when the Church ordered Galileo to keep quiet about his theories about the Earth orbiting around the Sun.

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.

Galileo gave more emphasis to mathematical arguments rather than to experimental or physical arguments in

The use of the telescope led him to discover new characteristics of space and the solar system. He discovered Jupiter’s four largest moons and the rings of Saturn. He also discovered that the Milky Way galaxy is comprised of stars. The observation of mountains on the moon was made by Galileo as well. He also made numerous discoveries within these discoveries.

Galileo’s Dialogue on the Two Chief World Systems uses powerful logic and simply described concepts to overcome the Aristotelian bias of the populous and argue in favor of Copernicus’ heliocentric view of the universe. Copernicus theorized that the earth, along with the other planets in the sky, is in motion around the sun. The Aristotelian’s geocentric worldview, that the earth is the motionless center of the universe, was deeply ingrained into the minds of the people and the teachings of the church. Galileo’s argument had to be not only incisive and logical to have any sway, but it also had to avoid offending or denying the ancient principles of thought proposed by Aristotle. He walked this delicate line between educating the public and

hide his lack of proof by focusing on only what he knew. His actions on 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