How Did Galileo Contribute To The Scientific Revolution

In concordance with Christian doctrines, this system implies that heaven and the throne of God lie beyond the tenth sphere. On the other hand, during the first half of the 16th century, Polish cleric Copernicus developed an astronomical model which positions the motionless Sun at the center of the universe, with the Earth, the moon, and six other planets revolving at a constant speed around it. He argues that all stars were at rest and that their nightly movements are simply indications of the earth’s rotation. However, members of the Church, especially Protestants, who interpreted the Bible literally, refused to grant Copernicus credit for his theory. Nevertheless, once released among the population, the Copernican theory raised support from various scholars, a few of whom, such as Brahe, Kepler, and Galileo, went on to dedicate their career to solidify its legitimacy. With their use of mathematical reasoning, instead of antic philosophy, the Copernican theory finally became justified among the population. Pertaining to its influence among laypeople, the Copernican theory raised various questions against the

The Scientific Revolution was during the 16th and 17th centuries, in which new astronomy changed many peoples thought the process and the methods within society. The Revolution was a major milestone in the mental evolution of man and is responsible for the change of science as we know it today. Nicolaus Copernicus and Isaac Newton were two of many intellectuals who made a major contribution to the changing of thoughts, methods and challenged the inspirational viewpoint of the Catholic church with logical reasoning during these times. Nicolaus Copernicus is a Polish astronomer, who put forth the heliocentric theory that the sun lies at the center of the universe and the planets revolve around the sun (Sheila Rabin "Nicolaus Copernicus (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)."). His theory challenged the geocentric view of the universe, in which other astronomers believed the earth was the center of the solar system, and the planets and sun revolved around it.

Galileo’s ambition pushed him to go further, and in the fall of 1609 he made the fateful decision to turn his telescope toward the heavens. Using his telescope to explore the universe, Galileo observed the moon and found Venus had phases like the moon, proving it rotated around the sun, which refuted the Aristotelian doctrine that the Earth was the center of the universe. He also discovered Jupiter had revolving moons that didn’t revolve around planet Earth. In 1613, he published his observations of sunspots, which also refuted Aristotelian doctrine that the sun was perfect.

Who was one of the biggest influences on the Scientific Revolution? Some may say it was Galileo, Descartes or even Kepler. Though all great contributors to the Scientific Revolution, one person stood out among the rest during the climax of this exciting time of creative thinking and exchange of ideas: Isaac Newton. Born in the mid 1600s, Newton was a mathematician, astronomer and a physicist but in his time he would have been known as a “natural philosopher”. Through his research of optics, mathematics and dynamics, Isaac Newton established himself as one of the most, if not most, influential people during the Scientific Revolution.

Galileo believes that knowledge about the natural world should come from observations and physical evidence, not solely from the words of the Bible. He proves this point by saying “I think that in discussions of physical problems we ought to begin not from the authority of scriptural passages, but from sense-experiences and the necessary demonstrations;”. Galileo clearly believed that the Holy Scripture was meant to be read and understood, not for what the actual words say, but for the meaning that lies beneath the words. Galileo suggests that his opponents should seek the understand the true meaning of the Scripture, this is because he believes that the Bible was written in such a way as for the common person to be able to comprehend it. Galileo shows that he thinks that his idea that the Earth moves around the Sun is not contradicting the Bible because he believes that the Bible is meant to explain other meanings in a way that even an unlearned person can understand, so while his idea varies to the ideas of the time the Bible was written, it does not try to prove the Bible as false.

He also taught math at Padua university in 1592. Galileo was also an astronomer. He made astronomical observations with the telescope, he also proved the earth is not the center of the universe. Some of Galileo’s achievements were: disproving the long standing physics of Aristotle, publishing a book about his early discoveries in March of 1610, and studying medicine at the university of Pisa in 1581. Galileo reflects

Galileo used a telescope and shined the sun’s rays onto a paper to see solar flares emit from off the sun’s surface, through this he proved that the sun was not only spherical but rotated. He found that many other celestial bodies orbiting things other than earth, which destroyed the previously accepted geocentric theory. Galileo wanted to reconcile scripture with his astronomical findings of the time. Galileo wrote a letter to a student to explain how Copernican theory was not going against Biblical passages, but rather that the scripture written was from an earthly perspective and that recommended that science gave an altered, more correct perspective. He faced hatred from the Vatican and was told not to teach of a heliocentric universe even with all of the evidence he had collected at the

Galileo was the first scientist to propose a theory for the law of gravitation, which stated that all objects are attracted by the Earth’s pull and fall at the same rate(9.8 m/s2. Galileo held that an object at rest stays at rest and an object in motion stays in motion unless acted upon by an outside force, and this theory was known as the law of Inertia. This theory, which was proven by Galileo in subsequent experiments and which was adopted by Isaac Newton as his First Law of Motion, furthermore was in direct contrast to Aristotle’s conviction that an object moved only so long as a force acted upon it. He used his design, which became one of the first telescopes, to make many new discoveries, including that the Moon was rocky and mountainous rather than smooth as previously thought, discovered 4 moons of Jupiter, many new stars, observed the rings of Saturn, which he called “ears”, the phases of Venus, and found the Sun had sunspots. Galileo’s astronomical observations led him to accept the Copernican view of the Universe, which holds that the Earth and all of

He wanted people to become more interested in finding things as if they were scientist like himself. On the other hand, Galileo wanted people to stop including the bible into scientific findings. One of Galileo’s findings as stated in the book, “I hold the sun to be situated motionless in the center of the revolution of the celestial orbs while the Earth rotates on its axis and revolves about the sun” (The Human Record, 42). Galileo made an attempt to explain that his findings do not discredit the religion or the church.

In 1597, Galileo wrote a letter to Johannes Kepler, a famous German astronomer, telling him how he has been interesting in the heliocentric universe and the works of Nicolaus Copernicus. In his letter, he states that, “I have written up many of my reasons and refutations on the subject, but I have not dared until now to bring them into the open, being warned by the fortunes of Copernicus himself, our master, [...] only to be derided and dishonored”. Galileo’s declaration proves his loyalty to Copernicus, since he refers to him as “master”--suggesting how Galileo views Copernicus as a higher power, which is credible considering that he influenced much of his works. Galileo’s hesitation to publish his works for the sake of Copernicus confirms his willingness to preserve Copernicus’ reputation. Then in 1595, Galileo studied tides, where he found that the tides were more prominent in the Adriatic Sea, Venice than anywhere in the Mediterranean basin, which is because of the rotation of the Earth, explained in Copernicus' theory.

Making use of this opportunity in the 1620s, Galileo drafted the Dialogue. In 1632, the Dialogue was published as a book under the title of A Dialogue Between the Two Great World Systems due

For centuries the world believed in a system formulated by influential astronomer Ptolemy. In the Ptolemaic system the Earth is at the center of all celestial bodies. This theory was widely accepted especially by the Church who held much prominence in Europe. The Catholic Church believed that God formed the earth therefore it should sit at the center of the universe. It wasn't until the 16th century, when a man name Nicolas Copernicus presented a theory which contradicted all that was known in the world of astronomy. Copernicus presented a heliocentric system, in which he placed the sun at the center of the universe, motionless, with the Earth and other planets rotating around it in circular paths modified by epicycles. Thomas S. Kuhn, in his book, The Copernican Revolution, states that “Copernicus, the author of the theory that ultimately deprived the heavens of special power, belonged to the minority group of Renaissance astronomers who did not caste horoscopes” (pg. 94). The Copernican system initially began as a system of minorities, however, as time continued it began to see prominence. Both Johannes Keppler and Galilei Galileo, through their observations and theories began to prove a heliocentric system.

In 1611, Galileo went to Rome to demonstrate his telescope. Already being accepted at Rome, Galileo wrote letters to formally take his position on the heliocentric theory. The letters were publicized and the Church, influenced by the Aristotelian Scholars, proclaimed that Galileo was contradicting scriptures and that the Copernican theory was a heresy. The Catholic Church banned books that supported the Heliocentric theory and ordered Galileo not to hold or defend his doctrines. Galileo obeyed this for seven years because he was a Catholic, and also to make his life a bit at ease. He went back home to Bellosguardo in Florence. After seven years, he returned to Rome hoping that the Pope would revoke the decree. The Pope did not annul the decree,

Even though Galileos beliefs were held in practicing Catholicsim, his writings were showing evidence for “Copernican heliocentrism.” The Catholic Church, however, disapproved of heliocentricity, feeling that it was contrary to the statements in the Bible: if God created human beings as His supreme creation, He would place man at the center of His cosmos. (At that time the more literal Biblical interpretation was prevalent with the church fathers, especially among the Dominican Order, facilitators of the Inquisition)2 However, real power layed with the Church, and Galileo's arguments were most fiercely fought on the religious level. Cardinal Robert Bellarmine insisted that Galileo furnish more adequate proof of his new theories before he would be allowed to teach them as true or even as probably true.

The Scientific Revolution was a period when new scientific ideas where introduced into society. The Scientific Revolution laid down a foundation in which modern science is heavily based on. An influential figure of the Scientific Revolution is Sir Isaac Newton. He made many advancements in the field of science and mathematics, he discovered Gravity, developed the three basic laws of motion, and co-development of Calculus. Isaac Newton did several thing that positively affected the scientific community during the Scientific Revolution and still affect society today, he recognized the three laws of motion, discovered gravity, and co-developed calculus.