Gutting Galileo Galilei

Galileo Galilei, born on the 15thof February in 1564, in Pisa, Duchy of Florence, Italy. The so-called “father of modern physics”1, and frequently cited example of the clash between religious zealots and forward-facing scientific minds. There is no doubt, of course, of Galileo’s incredible legacy – according to Stephen Hawking, Galileo probably bears more of the responsibility for the birth of modern science than anybody else.2His championing of heliocentrism, although controversial for the times, has become one of the most well-known stories in the sciences.

Galileo was the first of six children, son to Vincenzo Galilei, a famous lutenist, composer, and music theorist. Initially, under his father’s urging, Galileo enrolled himself at the University of Pisa with the intentions of obtaining a medical degree, avoiding the field of mathematics entirely, as a physician earned a higher income than a mathematician. Unfortunately, in the eyes of his father, but fortunately, in the annals of history, Galileo was able to convince his father into allowing him to study mathematics and natural philosophy.

Although Galileo is primarily known for his contributions to astronomy, he was also noted to be a brilliant individual with regards to inventions. The hydrostatic balance, which he theorized at just 22 years of age in 1586, was initially described in a 586 tract entitledLa Billancetta, orThe Little Balance, which allowed for the determination of the weight/specific gravity of objects.3Of particular interest, of course, were the precious metals. Another invention was the thermoscope – Galileo’s own version of a modern thermometer, which, rather than relying on expansion of a liquid, relied on the expansion and contraction of air in a bulb to move water in an attached tube. Over the next several years, this concept was developed further by Santorio Santorio and Gianfrancesco Sagredo, including a numerical scale, thus permitting it to become a true, full-fledged airthermometer.4

Beyond these inventions, Galileo also either set a precedent for, such as in the case of Galileo’s Pump5, or greatly improved upon prior inventions. Most notably, the series of telescope designs collectively known as the Galilean Telescopes. Towards the end of 1609, Galileo improved on his own designs, ultimately creating the very telescope he used to observe the Moon, discover the four satellites of Jupiter, discern the phases of Venus, and resolve nebular patches into stars.6

Galileo was also one of the first scientists to clearly state that the laws of nature are mathematical. InIl Saggiatore, orThe Assayer,Galileo writes that “Philosophy is written in this grand book, the universe … It is written in the language of mathetmatics, and its characters are triangles, circles, and other geometric figures;…”7. This text, published in 1623, is generally considered one of the first pioneering works of the scientific method, which was in sharp contrast with the concept of scholastic philosophy held at the time. In order to perform his experiments, Galileo had to create situations in which his experiments could be compared in a reproducible fashion – essentially inductive reasoning.

During Galileo’s lifetime, the most subscribed concept of Earth’s position in space was the Ptolemaic system, also known as the Geocentric model, in which the Earth was at the center of the universe. A second model of the solar system, published in the late 16thcentury, was known as the Tychonic/Tychonian system – essentially a mathematically more efficient geoheliocentric model which combined the mathematical benefits of the Copernican system with the “physical” beliefs of the Ptolemaic system. However, through use of the very telescope he improved upon, Galileo began to observe the sky, documenting multiple observations which fit moreso into a heliocentric model as described by Copernicus prior. Among these observations were Jupiter’s moons, which demonstrated an orbiting model. A planet with smaller planets orbiting it did not conform with the principles of Aristotelian cosmology, which states that all heavenly bodies must circle the Earth.8A shift occurred in the early 17thcentury as a result of yet another discovery – this time with respect to Venus. In the aforementioned Ptolemaic system, it was impossible for any planets’ orbits to intersect the shell carrying the sun. However, on observation by Galileo it was noted that all Venus exhibited afullset of phases. The great majority of astronomers then converted to one of various geo-heliocentric planetary models, such as the Tychonic system, which explained the phases of Venus.9

Although it is frequently cited that religious opposition to heliocentrism was the main issue, there were also several scientific oppositions. It was argued by individuals such as Tycho Brahe that, if heliocentrism were true, an annual stellar parallax – the apparent shift of position of any nearby star against the background of other objects – would be observed. While Copernicus refuted that the parallax was negligible secondary to the distance of the astral bodies,Brahe further countered that those incredibly distant stars must then be massive in size, dwarfing the sun.

It has since been proven, through a variety of methods enabled via new technology, that Galileo was, for the most part, right. While there is no doubt with respect to his brilliance in ingenuity, the popular story in which he was vehemently shut down by the Church is lacking several choice details. As Galileo repeatedly defended heliocentrism, his writings were submitted to the Roman Inquisition – a system of tribunals developed by the Holy See of the Roman Catholic Church, responsible for prosecuting individuals for crimes relating to religious doctrine. Father Niccolo Lorini claimed that, by defending heliocentrism, Galileo wasreinterpretingthe Bible – a grave violation at the time, on the level of heresy. In 1616, the Inquisitorial commission declared that the idea of the Earth’s movement “receives the same judgement in philosophy and…in regard to theological truth it is at least erroneous in faith”.10As a result, Galileo was ordered:

“…to abandon completely, the opinion that the sun stands still at the center of the world and the Earth moves, and henceforth not to hold, teach, or defend it in any way whatever, either orally or in writing.11

Simply put, Galileo received a proverbial slap on the wrist, as he was not prohibited from discussing heliocentrism as an idea, rather than a truth.

Galileo then published, with formal authorization from the Inquisition and papal permission,Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems. Within the text, the defender of the Aritotelian geocentric view often made mistakes and was came across as a fool. In addition, the character was named Simplicio, which also held the connotation of simpleton. The previously papal permission by Pope Urban VIII included a request that his own views be included in Galileo’s book. Unfortunately, those views came from the mouth of Simplicio – essentially public ridicule of the Pope. The rest is history – Galileo was sentenced to house arrest for the remainder of his life, and his texts were essentially banned.

Overall, the opposition to Galileo was not, in fact, to his ideas, but to Galileo himself. Much of his controversy was from his own errors, but the Church could not publicly pursue him for poor satire without being humiliated. There are further, more intricate issues with regards toother precedents, such as with respect to Giordano Bruno, who was burned at the stake for heresy; Galileo’s language was moreso dangerous because of its capability to connect with Bruno’s heresy.12With regard to the general scientific community, Galileo was not shunned. Many, if not all scientists, including Churchmen, felt that the Church was wrong to persecute him. Even while he was under house arrest and prohibited from publishing more texts, he was still able to smuggleDiscourse on the Two New Sciencesto be published. Galileo’s texts were used by anyone with a serious interest in physics, such as Isaac Newton, and dominated as the scientific standard until, at thevery least, they were accompanied by the work of Rene Descartes – the father of modern western philosophy.

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1Weidhorn, Manfred (2005).The Person of the Millennium: The Unique Impact of Galileo on World History. iUniverse. P. 155.

2Hawking, Stephen (1988).A Brief History of Time. New York, NY: Bantam Books.

3Fermi, Laura (1961).Galileo and the Scientific Revolution(New York: Basic Books, 1961), pp 133-143.

4W. E. Knowles Middleton.A History of the Thermometer and its Use in Meteorology; p. 8.

5Leopere di Galileo Galilei,XIX: 128-129. Translation by Albert Van Helden.

6Van Helden, Al (1995). The Galileo Project | Science | The Telescope. Retrieved from

7Drake, Stillman (1957).Discoveries and Opinions of Galileo. New York: Doubleday & Company.

8Linton, Christopher M. (2004).From Eudoxus to Einstein – A History of Mathematical Astronomy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

9Thoren (1989), p. 8; Hoskin (1999) p. 117.

10Finocchiaro, Maurice. “West Chester University – History of Astronomy; Lecture notes: Texts from The Galileo Affair: A Documentary History”. West Chester University. ESS 362 / 562.

11Heilbron (2010), p. 218

12Martinez, Alberto (University of Texas)The Heresies of Bruno and Galileo, History of Science Society Annual Meeting, Novemeber 19, 2015.