Galileo Galilei was an Italian philosopher, astronomer, and mathematician who lived during the 1500’s and 1600’s. Galileo was born on February 15th, 1564, in Pisa, Italy, and was the oldest son of the revered musician, Vincenzo Galilei, a major contributor to music theory and the practice of music. Throughout his life, Galileo made contributions to the sciences of motion, astronomy, and the classification of materials based on strength. He also accepted the Copernican heliocentric system as well as converted natural philosophy from a more verbal account to a more mathematical one based on experimentation and critical thinking. Galileo meets some of the criteria mentioned in Castiglione’s The Book of the Courtier, however he does not satisfy …show more content…
Galileo was greatly influenced by Aristotle and Archimedes, both of whom are considered as some of the most brilliant ancient Greek men that ever lived. According to Albert Van Helden, the Italian engineer proved Aristotle’s theory that the speed at which an object falls is not proportional to its weight by dropping various objects off of the top of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. With a closer look at Galileo’s book on the topic, titled De Motu, Galileo appears to have been taking an Archimedean approach to the problem, which made him unpopular with his colleagues (Van Helden). The brilliant scientist would not have been able to test his ideas and write his novel on the law of falling bodies of it were not for his reading of Aristotle and Archimedes’ works. This high regard for the works of these two men led Galileo to write many books about his observations and philosophies throughout his life. However, due to this being the only one of Castiglione's criteria met by Galileo, he should not be considered as a Renaissance person, as a true courtier should possess all of the traits listed in The Book of the …show more content…
His reasoning was based on the fact that the ancient Greeks highly prized music in their everyday lives, and those who couldn’t were regarded as less than men who could. Galileo was not a musician, which was rather ironic as his father was one of the most well known musicians of the time period. During his early life, instead of focusing on music and the arts, the young Galileo attended the University of Pisa to study medicine, but dropped out after finding that his real passion was mathematics. The mathematician ended up making arithmetic and philosophy his career, which his father protested. Although Galileo did not study music as a child, he still found ways to express himself, discovering new and different ideas in astronomy, mathematics, and philosophy. Because Galileo does not fulfill this part of Castiglione’s ideal courtier, Galileo should not be regarded as a Renaissance person, even though he contributed much to the scientific
Galileo was a child of Vincenzo Galilei, a well-educated musician and scholar who made crucial theories and practice in the music field. In his mid-teens, Galileo went to monastery school, then later went to study medicine at the University of Pisa in 1581. When studying, Galileo was distracted by his interest in Mathematics, a profession that his father disagreed with. Soon after, Galileo left university without a degree but started tutoring mathematics to people. In this period of time, Galileo managed to design a new form of hydrostatic balance.
However, he was able to earn a place as an instructor within the University of Pisa, teaching mathematics and performing some of his most famous experiments. According to Unknown, 2008, “In 1586 he composed a short work, La bilancetta, in which he reconstructed the reasoning of Archimedes in the detection of the goldsmith’s fraud in the matter of the crown of Hieron and described an improved hydrostatic balance.”(Early Years). He was also able to study physics and publish works such as The Little Balance and Du Motu(On Motion), beginning to oppose Aristotelian views about the behaviour of moving objects. As Galileo grew to reject Aristotelian concepts, he became more unpopular and eventually lost his position in the University of Pisa. Fortunately, he had many students who helped him earn another position within the University of Padua. It was near this time that his father, Vincenzo, passed away and Galileo was forced to become the leader of his family and caretaker of his younger brother, Michelagnolo (The Famous People website, 2015; Biography.com Editors, n.d.; Fermi, L., & Bernardini, G., 1961; Unknown,
Galileo refuted Aristotle works saying “So far as I can see, their education consisted in being nourished from infancy on the opinion that philosophizing is and can be nothing but to make a comprehensive survey of the texts of Aristotle, that from divers passages they may quickly collect and throw together a great number of solutions to any proposed problem. They wish never to raise their eyes from those pages—as if this great book of the universe had been written to be read by nobody
Galileo Galilei was an Italian philosopher born in 1564. As an adult, he didn’t believe the universal geocentric theory of the planets and heavens which was established by the
Galileo fought on the controversial findings of Copernicus while also furthering his research. The source also brings up Galileo’s background in mathematics and how it helped him prove his theories. Of course, there is a detailed part that highlights the arguments against him and the church. The article separates Galileo’s discoveries into phases. From discovering the moon was round to discovering Venus revolved around the sun.
Galileo’s work affected the development of science in his creative thinking. As stated in my first site “Galileo's contribution to our understanding of the universe was significant not only in his discoveries, but in the methods he developed and the use of mathematics to prove them.” Adding on to this quote Galileo used his knowledge of mathematics and incorporate it into his scientific work. Using mathematics in science was a major advancement to technology of the modern day.
Galileo Galilei was an innovator who had an enormous impact on society because of his contributions to the field of science. Galileo Galilei was born on the 15th of February 1564, in the city of Pisa. He was the first of six children. In 1572, he began to study for the priesthood, but soon left for a medical degree. While studying for his medical degree at the University of Pisa, Galileo became interested in Aristotle’s teachings regarding physics.
Galileo was an Italian scientist and scholar whose discoveries in the fields of astronomy, mathematics, philosophy, and physics inspired generations of scientists to come. Galileo was an influential and key figure during the Scientific Revolution, and is often referred to as the “Father of Modern Science”. He is also referred to as the "Father of Observational Astronomy", and the "Father of Modern Physics”. Besides being an accomplished scientist, Galileo was a talented musician. Galileo was never married.
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.
Galileo Galilei was born into a world of inventions being originated on every corner. The world was thirsty for new and improved technology. Throughout Galileo’s years he will improve, discovery, and endeavor to become one of the most important scientist of western history. Along the journey he will encounter rough patches with the church, however never capitulate. He will set the basis for science; he was an agile scientist who had a huge impact on the world’s technology improvements and underlying contributions to astronomy, mathematics, physics, and philosophy during the scientific revolution. Galileo was significant to western history due to his discovery of the telescope, which would allow for all future discoveries, forever changing science and the scientific revolution.
Galileo Galilei was an extremely important scientific figure. Known as the father of modern science, Galileo's’ discoveries and advancements helped build the foundation of theorems and technology still used today. From proving the Copernican theory to building his own telescope, he made a huge impact that is definitely worth learning about and noting.
Who is Galileo Galilei? Astronomer. Galileo’s most common attribute is his work as an astronomer, refining the newly invented telescope, discovering moons, and proving the accepted model of Aristotelian cosmology wrong, while providing empirical evidence of Copernican Heliocentrism reinventing astronomy forever. Early in the 1600’s Galileo discovers the relatively new invention from the Netherlands called the telescope, and promptly builds his own, improving on the design, increasing the magnification, and the clarity of the image. The earlier versions of Galileo's telescopes had a magnification of 8x to around 10x magnification but through time, he continually refined the design eventually getting to around 30x magnification. Though Galileo was more than likely not the first to gaze into the heaven with a telescope, he was one of the very first to do
Of all the people who contributed to early science, Galileo Galilei is arguably one of the most memorable astronomers, not only for his contributions to astronomy and simple physics, but also for the way he presented his findings and his reactions to those who opposed him. Unquestionably, Galileo was a very intelligent, talented man; he had an obvious flair for math and building things. After hearing of the discovery of the telescope in 1608, he went to work on creating an improved design, using his new instrument to make observations of the moons of Jupiter and the rings of Saturn, the likes of which had never been seen before. Despite his significant discoveries, however, Galileo was well known for his refusal to entertain the theories and opinions of other opposing scientists. In fact, his aggressive rebuttals to popular Aristotelian principles are debatably a significant factor in the Church
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
He was an Italian physicist, astronomer, mathematician, philosopher, and engineer who played a large role in the scientific revolution (1564-1642). Galileo was often faced with controversial arguments about his findings. Based on the shared knowledge of the Catholic Church, it tried to compress the personal knowledge of Galileo. This is where the idea of personal and shared knowledge shaping each other comes into perspective, as Galileo was continuously faced with the knowledge of the Church. Continuously his personal knowledge was rejected, because shared knowledge had such an influence among the people. His hypothesis frightened both the Protestant leaders and Catholic Church because it went against their teachings and authority. If people believed that the church could be wrong about this, they would question the church teachings as well. The Church warned Galileo of his theories, however silently he continued to research. The Church's greatest fear was that Galileo's personal knowledge would ultimately change the shared knowledge of the Church. In 1632, he published a book which presented both of the ideas of Copernicus and Ptolemy, and it was clear that Galileo supported the Copernican theory which stated that the Earth moved around the Sun. Galileo was sentenced to court and found guilty. Under torture, he admitted his findings were false. Only in 1992, the Catholic Church