Galileo Discovers the Moons of Jupiter
(1610)
Galileo Galilei
Introduction
Galileo Galilei, (1564-1642) the gifted and extremely curious Italian scientist, made great use of the telescope to discover such unsettling things as the irregularities of the moon's surface; it was believed at the time to be perfectly smooth, a belief which conformed to Catholic dogma. Moreover, Galileo's observations with the telescope led him to the conclusion that Nicolas Copernicus (1473-1543) was right: the earth did indeed orbit around the sun and not vice versa. Such a viewpoint cast great doubt on the accepted natural philosophy (first enunciated by Aristotle) of a geocentric universe and thus of human beings' centrality in the universe. Thus the conflict between religion and science in the seventeenth century was begun. In this excerpt Galileo describes his discovery of the moons of Jupiter from January to March, 1610. This discovery also cast doubt on the perfection of the Aristotelian universe which had been described by the Egyptian astronomer Ptolemy in the second century, A.D.
Questions to Consider
One of the hallmarks of the Scientific Revolution was the establishment of the scientific method of inquiry. How does Galileo's notebook description of his observations help
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Though I believed them to be among the host of fixed stars, they aroused my curiosity somewhat by appearing to lie in an exact straight line parallel to the ecliptic, and by their being more splendid than others of their size. Their arrangement with respect to Jupiter and each other was the
In Galileo’s Daughter, Dava Sobel assembles an account of Galileo’s attempt to prove the heliocentric model of the universe in a world where mans’ logical reasoning is potent, yet second to his devotion to God, and by relation, the Catholic Church. Sobel writes about Galileo’s tendency to question the reasoning of those around him. Though it may not be apparent, Galileo was born into a world of great similarity to the modern day. In Galileo’s time, Science was seen as blasphemy and a tool to undermine the construct of God. Moreover, it didn’t help matters that at the time, the Church was the governing body throughout Italy.
Galileo continued to study the heliocentric and in 1932, he even published a book called Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World System supporting Copernicus’s theory. ( The Scientific Revolution) . Galileo publishing the Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World System supporting Copernicus’s showed that Galileo supported the Heliocentric theory. Galileo teaching the opposite of what the church had to say makes Galileo a
Galileo, having conversed with Kepler, was inspired to develop his own theories of nature built on the heliocentric theory. Initiated by the astronomical discoveries of these two scientists, Galileo mapped the moons of Jupiter and identified sunspots. He used the orbit of Jupiter's moons around Jupiter to prove the orbital relationships of other celestial objects. As such, Galileo studied motions and developed formulas for inertia and parabolic trajectories. Had Galileo not set the climate for a new understanding of forces and motion, Newton would not have been able to explore his works to develop the current theories for
Galileo’s theories portrayed a heliocentric solar system while the Catholic Church had said it was geocentric; as a result, Galileo’s works were put on the Index of Prohibited Books and he was later put under house arrest by the Inquisition. A letter from an Italian monk in Document 3 depicts how religious figures would try to convince him to retract his discovery of the moon having craters in order to avoid confusion and contradiction of the Bible, which portrays how religious figures hindered the progress of the Scientific Revolution because these new ideas challenged the Bible and their old
Galileo Galilei was a brilliant man born in the city of Florence, Italy in 1564 in a climate of intolerance. In 1610, he discovered a new tool that will move him forward into his knowledge, which was a similar tool to the modern telescope. This tool allowed him to discover Jupiter and its four moons. This astonishing discovery leads him to the conclusion that the universe does not consist of an Earth-centered, but a sun-centered universe. After a diner between Castelli, Duke Cosimo II de ‘Medici and his mother Grand Duchess Christina in 1613, the Grand Duchess had doubts about Galileo being a heretic because the Church believed in a Earth-centered universe.
In this comment Hightower made on page 63, he argued that Venus’s phase changes inferred that Venus was not revolving around the Earth. “Galileo’s work was more important than just scientific discoveries. He provided ample evidence that Aristotle was wrong in many things” (64). Hightower agrees with the fact that Galileo
Autumn Stern Galileo Trial Summary + Copernicus Write Up In the early 17th century, there was no doubt that the Catholic church held extreme power throughout Europe. They also held to the geocentric theory (all planets, heavenly bodies and the sun revolving around the earth) put forth by Ptolemy and Aristotle because of how neatly it could fit into the current teachings. Unlike this theory, however, Galileo enforced Copernicus’ heliocentric theory with inductive reasoning rather than deductive. Galileo made observations about the moons of Jupiter and their orbit around Jupiter, which he likened to a smaller version of their solar system.
In the discourse involving Galileo’s findings and theories, there has been much reference to the works of the pagan Aristotle. While his genius is indisputable, his ignorance is also evident in matters of which we have newfound knowledge. Consequently, his writings on such subjects as astronomy must be considered only under heavy scrutiny. This scrutiny reveals, as shall be demonstrated, Galileo’s rectitude in supporting the Copernican model of the movement of the Earth.
Galileo’s main interest was the telescope, he slowly improved it and it’s what he spent most of his time on. His philosophy was that the earth was not indeed the center of the universe, but that it is the sun that is in the center. He also found that Jupiter had many moons and he named them all. He revolutionized the microscope which changed the whole way of biology. Galileo not only
Analysis of Galileo’s Letter to Grand-Duchess Christina During the time that Galileo wrote the letter to Grand-Duchess Christina, there was much debate about the orientation of the universe. There were two different theories of thought at this time. One was the Heliocentric Universe, which believed the sun was the center of the universe and the Earth orbits it.
Few people were literate aside from those that ran the church and were in power, so they would be the ones teaching about science. However, what Galileo wanted to do with this piece was to make it as accessible as possible to the public. It is written in simple language and contains diagrams and illustrations that would be easy for people to understand. It also allowed people to replicate his experiments or understand how he did them so that they knew how verifiable his findings were. It was also so simple and easily understandable that the church couldn’t misconstrue it and use it to their own advantage, so they saw this as a serious threat.
Today virtually every child grows up learning that the Earth orbits the Sun, but four centuries ago the heliocentric solar system, where the Earth orbits the Sun, was so controversial that the Catholic Church classified it as a crime of heresy (UCLA). In the age of early philosophy, Socrates’ is well known. Between the Socratic method and his line of successful students, Socrates’ makes the history books. Galileo Galilei turned astronomers on their heads when he discovered moons around Jupiter. Giordano Bruno didn’t back down from any of his brilliant and different ideas.
While I do believe that Galileo has committed wrong, I do not believe he should be punished of the highest degree of heresy as so many are calling for. Of all Galileo’s findings, his observations of the moon are the most shocking. If the moon, a perfect body held far above our realm in a heavenly sphere,
Because Galileo was the first to point the telescope to the sky, many new discoveries were made (Cox). Finding something new about Earth’s Moon was one discovery significant to science of the Renaissance. In late November of
Curious with the world and stars around him, he designed an improved telescope which allowed him to view the moons surface, and as far as the rings of Saturn. In the 16th and 17th century, that is quite a feat. Also, Galileo had great contributions to the beginning phases of laws of motion. Having done many experiments of the rate in which objects fell, helping him develop the concept of inertia. While viewing the heavens through his improved telescope, he saw moons orbiting Jupiter and the roughness of our moon.