Galileo Uniformity

Galileo: Uniformity of Nature and Experimental Physics

The Renaissance became one of the factors for the Scientific Revolution, bringing on the renewal of ancient times which led to the discovery of "ancient scientific texts (1)." This time period of the Renaissance also known as "the century of genius (1)" brought on a new view of nature bringing about ideas of great minds such as that of Galileo. He could be described as a Renaissance man, gifted in many areas as a talented musician, an artist, a cultivated humanist, an astronomer, and a physicist (1).
A substantial part of Galileo's work was related to mechanics, and he was the first to apply mathematics to its analysis; earning the status as the founder of modern mechanics and experimental physics (2). He also introduced the use of pendulums instead of clocks and proposed the law of uniform acceleration between falling objects. Finally, he developed the telescope with which he discovered the craters of the moon, sunspots, phases of Venus, and the satellites of Jupiter.
Galileo, like many other Renaissance Men, contributed many ideas and concepts to how we view and study the world today (2).
But he differs in a way that despite conflictions with the churches' teachings he remained with his ideas. I chose him not only because of his great mind and thoughts, but also for his willingness to stand by what he believed in even if it meant going against the church. He not only stood by his theories, such as those of uniform acceleration, but he also showed justification for his thoughts. Like Copernicus and Kepler, "he believed that mathematics expressed the harmony and beauty of God's creation (1)." He didn't oppose the concept that God created the universe, but argued that God gave mankind senses and intellects to acquire knowledge. Through his theories and reasoning his intelligence was
evident.
Galileo was appreciative of the Platonic tradition, which explored the mathematical theory of the universe. He also found other inspiration from the likes of Archimedes, the Hellenistic mathematician and engineer who explored a geometric understanding of space and motion (1). He believed that reality was nature itself. Not much is said about his characteristics or values, but through facts, he could be viewed as determined and persistent. He was thought of as a sincere Christian, so his intentions were never to go against the churches' teachings, but to only show the explanation behind the motions of the universe.
Galileo Galilei was born at Pisa, a city in western Italy (also known for its great Leaning Tower of Pisa), on February 15, 1564. In 1574, Galileo and his family moved to Florence. He was the first out of six children of a musician, by the name of Vincenzo Galilei, and his wife, Giulia degli Ammannati. In Pisa, he received his early education at the monastery of Vallombrosa located near Florence, Italy. In 1581 he began attending the University of Pisa to originally to study medicine. During his first year at the university, while in the Pisa cathedral, Galileo noticed a swinging lamp where his first true passion for the physical world and science became evident (3). Through this observation, he found that the lamp always required the same amount of time to complete a rotation, no matter how large the range of the swing. Following this observation, later in life he verified his findings and introduced the principle of the pendulum, and how it may be applied to the regulation of clocks. Prior to his experience with the swinging lamp, Galileo had no mathematical knowledge. His interest in mathematics and science came about on accident when he over heard a lesson concerning geometry (3).
Due to insufficient funds his education was cut short, where he then returned to his family in Florence. Once there, he worked lecturing at the Florence academy, and in 1586 wrote his first published essay describing the hydrostatic balance. This new invention made his name known all throughout Italy.
In midst of his career, during one of his many frequent visits to Venice, he met a young woman by the name of Marina Gamba. Soon, Marina moved in with Galileo. The two were never married but had three children Virginia, Livia, and Vincenzio.
He and Marina never did end up together but he didn't neglect his responsibilities as a father. He took his two daughters, Virginia and Livia, with him to Florence where he then sent them to a convent where they were veiled to become nuns. After Marina Gamba's marriage to Giovanni Bartoluzzi, his son, Vincenzio joined him in Florence. Although Marina and Galileo were never married and did not live like a typical couple with children, their children seemed to receive much love from both sides. Not long after their births, Galileo also made it a priority to legitimize his children. With his connections, due to his respectable status in society, he was able to change their legitimacy with no trouble.
Thereafter, he began his research into the theory of motion. He first refuted the Aristotelian theory that objects of different weights fall at different speeds. In the midst of his research, his finances ran low and worked as the chair of mathematics at Padua. There he was committed for eighteen years, and but it also provided him with a place where he can conduct the bulk of his research (3).
His time at Padua was where he developed the law of uniformly accelerated motion, where the motion of an object speeds up or slows down uniformly with time. Here, he also developed the law of parabolic fall, an experiment that proves that when a ball was thrown into the air it follows a parabolic path. Armed with his new discoveries, he began to challenge the Aristotelian approach to physics. This approach simply says that heavier objects fall faster than lighter ones. Through many research and experiments, Galileo discovered that any two objects, regardless of their weights, will fall at the same rate in a vacuum.
A true Copernican believer, he then began researching through the theory that the planets revolved around the earth. While spending some time in Venice, Galileo discovered the invention of the telescope. Soon after his trip he had created his own telescope that magnified 32 times more than what it was originally made. His telescopes became a high demand in all parts of Europe, being the first that could be used for astronomical observation. After his discovery of the moons surface, Jupiter's satellites, and the Milky Way and its composition of stars, Galileo published his first astronomical observations in Sidereus Nuncius (significance of the book lies in its dedication to the Grand Duke of Tuscany) (3). In it he discussed the truth behind the Copernican system. Prior to the system, it was believed that the universe was geocentric, or that the sun revolved around the earth. Although he was a lifetime appointed professor at Padua, he left with his new found telescope and became the "first philosopher and mathematician" to the grand Duke of Tuscany (also referred to as the Medici family). With his new found position he devoted even more time into his research.
His new astronomical discoveries led him to take in and follow the Copernican theory that the earth actually did revolve around the sun. In 1611 he traveled to Rome and demonstrated his telescope to some of the most prominent persons in its court. There, he reasserted the validation of the Copernican theory. Castelli, a mathematics professor at the University of Pisa was also a believer of the Copernican theory, also struggled to convince others of his belief in the Copernican theory. Upon hearing this, Galileo wrote to him implying the relationship between science and the scriptures. Soon the Aristotelian professors began to feel threatened by Galileo and his support of the Copernican theory, and organized to unite against him.
A friar by the name of Niccolo Lorini, who disagreed with Galileo's views, got a hold of his letters to Castelli and filed a written complaint to the Inquisition (church officials). They questioned his beliefs and its contradictions with the scriptures or the teachings of the church, and claimed that his research was nothing more than heresy (3). In his defense, Galileo wrote to Monsignor Piero Dini, a well recognized official in the Vatican. He even went to Rome in person to beg the authorities to leave the way open for a change in research and the nature of the world (2).
Despite many defense against his point of views, Galileo was summoned by Cardinal Bellarmine, (a supporter of the belief that mathematical hypotheses have nothing to do with physical reality), to stop his defense on the Copernican theory orally or in writing (3). Bellarmine feared that the scandal might only weaken the battle of the Catholic Church with the Protestantism. In Bellarmine's view the best way to deal with the issue was to simply declare Copernicanism as "false and erroneous (2)." Still, Galileo was given authorization to write about the Copernican theory as long as he treated it as a mathematical proposition or hypothesis, and not as a belief.
For the next seven years of his life Galileo led a homebody life in his home in Bellosguardo, near Florence. During this time he became a source of ridicule for other theorists such as Orazio Grassi, who wrote a pamphlet about the nature of the comets, but it was clear that it was a target against Galileo. Galileo, a fighter himself, did not let such things pass. He responded to the ridicules and provided justification to back up what he believed in. Here, he simply argued against Grassi through a refute on reality and an exhibition of his new scientific method; such as the "Book of Nature is…written in mathematical characters (a book he dedicated to the new Pope one of his supporters) (2)."
Unwilling to give up his passion of research and scientific studies, Galileo returned to Rome in hopes of reviving his previous controversial work. Although he did not get the permission of the church to do so, the Pope allowed him to write about "the systems of the world" using both Ptolemaic and Copernican teachings, as long as he discussed them without his feelings on their teachings. With a new found privilege, he returned to Florence where he would spend the next several years on his most controversial piece yet, Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems-Ptolemaic and Copernican.
With this new piece, he received praise from individuals all around Europe calling it a masterpiece. But unfortunately not all felt the need to praise his work; the Pope felt that this was a silent plea to pull through with the Copernican system. Through his anger the Pope demanded that Galileo be prosecuted. After old documentation was dug up, they concluded that he was forbidden to discuss Copernicanism in any way. Under this pretence, Galileo was prosecuted for "vehement suspicion of heresy (2)." Despite his old age and illness, he traveled back to Rome to stand trial. He was treated with leniency and was not jailed, but the "congregation decreed (2)" that it was required that he be sentenced.
On June 21, 1633 he was charged of being guilty of having "held and taught (2)" the Copernican doctrine and was ordered to recant or to make a formal withdrawal from the system. His sentenced required imprisonment, but the Pope converted that his sentence be carried out under house arrest. He returned to his little estate in at Arcetri near Florence, in seclusion. Here, he remained up to the last eight years of his life.
Under these circumstances, Galileo's brilliant mind wouldn't let him stop researching and to continually discover new things for the rest of the world to explore. Within his time in house arrest he completed his work called, Dialogue Concerning Two New Sciences, and continued to make telescopic discoveries. One of his last finding was that of the moon's "diurnal and monthly librations (2)," only a few months before he became blind. Despite illness and blindness his last discoveries and work still contained its original accuracy and insight. Among them include; the application of the pendulum to the regulation of clockwork, he engaged in dictating (to his faithful followers Viviani and Torricelli) his latest ideas on the theory of impact. Sadly his teachings couldn't be continued when he developed a fever that eventually led to his death in January 8, 1642 in his estate, where he was held in house arrest at Arcetri.
Much of the value of his work is due to his telescopic discoveries, but Galileo contributed more than just geocentric theories to future geniuses of his time. He was also known to have helped pave the way for the English physicist and mathematician, Isaac Newton. He was the first man to take mathematics and physics, and incorporate their functions. Many also believe that "he was able to unify celestial and terrestrial phenomena into one theory, taking away the division between the world above and below the moon (2)."
He created the modern idea of experiment, which he called "ordeal." With this method he was able to apply to check theoretical assumptions in the study of the laws of falling bodies, equilibrium and motion on an inclined plane, the motion of a propelled object, his definition of momentum, laws of motion, and he also constructed an elementary form of air thermometer.
Galileo was one of the true geniuses of the Renaissance. He didn't let anything stand in the way of discoveries he somehow knew would pave the way of future education and science. He took the ignorance out of research and discovery, and inspired others to open up and let a little change into the way experiments are held. Finally, what I found most admirable with Galileo is his continuous fight for what he believed were the true explanations of how the nature of the universe functions. He wasn't all about heresy, as he was charged. He constantly found numerous ways to explain and justify his findings. Despite all the trouble he's in, Galileo stood his ground on believing the Copernican system and the validity of its explanations.