Galileo Galilei Case

Galileo Galilei

There are many astronomers, physicists, and mathematicians in history. Although many remain unheard of one who was not only heard of to many people but made their mark in history was Galileo Galilei. He specialized in all three of these fields and made astonishing discoveries. For example creating the thermoscope (thermometer). Upon making his astounding discoveries and inventions he played a major role in the scientific revolution.

Galileo Galilei was born February 15,1664 in Pisa, Italy where he grew up. His father urged him to get a medical degree. So he went to school at the University of Pisa. While he was there he saw a chandelier swinging and he compared it to his heartbeat. When he got home he set up two pendulums that were the same length. He swung one with a large sweep and the other with a small sweep, and discovered that they keep time together. This triggered his curiosity for the study of other subjects. Galileo was purposely kept away from the study of mathematics because physicians made more then mathematicians. He accidentally attended a geometry lecture and that's when he talked his dad into letting him study mathematics and natural philosophy.

One of Galileo's first inventions was the thermoscope. It was basically a thermometer but back then it didn't have the numbers on it. At the start of the seventeenth century they had no way to tell how hot , hot was and how cold, cold was. "Galileo Galilei invented a rudimentary thermoscope which for the first time allowed temperature variations to be measured." (Mary Bellis 2003). Several inventors invented a version of the thermoscope at the same time.

In 1588 he became an instructor at the Accademia Delle Arti del Disgeno. He taught

Page 2

Perspective and chiarcusco. There is where he acquired a lifelong friendship with the Florence painter by the name of Cigolo. Whom included some of Galileos lunar observations in his paintings. City art and renaissance art led to help develop the mentality of Galileo. In 1592 he moved to the University of Padua. Where of which he taught geometry, mechanics, and astronomy until 1610. During this time period is when he made is notable discoveries in astronomy and science in kinetics.

Galileo was a person who supported Copernicus' theory on heliocentrism. Which meant that believing that the sun was the center of the universe. In 1652 Cardinal Bellarmine negated this theory. Galileo was banned from supporting the idea because they were "false". He was banned until it could be corrected. But it did not prohibit him from discussing it as a mathematical fiction, but the hard part was if he could believe it to be a physical possibility.

He also had his theory on tides. He thought that his theory would provide the required physical proof of the motion of the