Trial of Galileo Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Trial of Galileo - Essay Example He started studying for priesthood, but the scientific inkling in him did not allow him to become a priest. He left the course and instead joined a medical degree course at the University of Pisa. But he could never complete the degree and instead started studying mathematics with Ostilio Ricci, the mathematician of the Tuscan court. The genius in him kept bubbling with enthusiasm and at the age of nineteen Galileo had discovered isochronism principle of the pendulum. He got the inspiration while watching the oscillations of a lamp in the cathedral of Pisa. He propounded that pendulums of equal length had constant oscillation periods, i.e. the oscillations are isochronous regardless of the amplitude of the oscillation. He also visited the mathematician Christopher Clavius in Rome and started a correspondence with Guildobaldo del Monte. At the age of he invented the hydrostatic balance, which he described as an accurate balance for weighing things in air and water, which was a common method for weighing precious metals like gold during those days. He was offered a lectureship, at the University of Pisa when he was barely 25 yrs and subsequently Galileo successfully earned a name for himself as a renowned scientist and an excellent lecturer. He also obtained the chair of mathematics at the University of Padua in 1592. ... the heliocentric, or Sun-centered, system theory stating that the 'Sun is at the center of the universe, and that the Earth, spinning on its axis once daily, revolves yearly around the Sun'. Before this, astronomers believed in Ptolemy's geocentric universe theory, in which the Earth was told to be motionless at the center of several rotating spheres. Therefore there was widespread condemnation of Copernicus theory. But Galileo was the most vociferous supporter of Copernicus. Galileo became an ardent supporter of Copernicus theory when he discovered the Telescope and himself observed the sky. In 1609, Galileo set the telescope in his garden to see the Milky Way, the sky, the mountains and the valleys on the moon. In fact he was the first one to observe the moons of Jupiter and discuss the mountains on the moon. Galileo is also credited with determining the parabolic path of projectiles and calculated the law of free fall on the basis of experiments. And he started believing firmly in the theory put forward by Copernicus. He called upon people to come forward and see it themselves the composition of the celestial system around earth, but he was quite disappointed by the way people reacted to the theory of Copernicus. He expressed his anguish in a letter sent to Kepler in 1610. He wrote1, "My dear Kepler, what would you say of the learned here, who, replete with the pertinacity of the asp, have steadfastly refused to cast a glance through the telescope What shall we make of this Shall we laugh, or shall we cry" It became clear that the Copernican theory had its enemies." Based on his encounters with stars through telescope, in 1610 he published 'The Starry Messenger; and thereafter accepted a position as Mathematician and Philosopher to the Grand Duke of Tuscany