Sam Smith, Vincent Thompson, Kara Stallings
Galileo Galilei was born in Italy in 1564 and died
in 1642. He was an astronomer, physicist, engineer, mathematician, and
philosopher. His philosophy and work in physics was heavily influenced by
Copernicus and Aristotle. One of Galileo's most important contributions to
physics is his thought experiment on falling bodies or the movement of objects
in free fall which originated in 1590. The falling bodies experiment eventually
led to the establishment of the principle that all bodies all at the same speed
in a vacuum. This conclusion differs from Aristotle’s theory of free fall which
states that all bodies of the same kind fall with speeds proportional to their
size. While Galileo's original experiment is not without flaw, the ultimate
conclusion has made a massive impact on modern physics.
Galileo
was a man who was duly noted for his early elaboration on the physics of
Aristotle. Aristotle believed that elements determined why certain resources
did certain things. He believed that stones hit the ground because it was an
earthy element and wanted to be close to something of similarity. He also
believed the same about smoke and air. Galileo stated that an arrow kept flying
through the air due to the law of inertia, and a wood block didn’t move across
a table due to the law of friction. He essentially laid down the groundwork for
Sir Isaac Newton with this notion.
From
this work, Galileo then expanded his studies from that beyond the realm of the
Earth by following under Copernicus’s theory. This assertion was the beginning
domino effect to Galileo’s conflicts with the Church. Initially, his conflict
with the Catholic Church started with his defense of the concept of
heliocentrism. It was previously thought and the accepted view of the church
that the Earth was the center of the universe. Nicolaus Copernicus a 14th
century philosopher revived the controversial argument of heliocentrism when he
published “Commentariolus”. Galileo defending these views in his writing
submitted to the Roman Inquisition in 1615. The bible states in certain text
and scripture that “the world is firmly established and cannot be moved”.
Galileo’s view on heliocentrism was deemed heretical on the premises that it
contradicts the bible. He was told to abandon his idea and not to speak on it.
He stated away from the controversy until he published, “Dialogue Concerning
the Two Chief World Systems” in 1632. It was an authorized publication with a
few stipulations. Pope Urban VIII insisted that Galileo mention arguments for
and against heliocentrism and that his personal views were included in the
book. Simplio, the main character against the concept of heliocentrism voiced
the words of the pope and was often portrayed in a foolish way. The pope
recognized this and did not take this lightly. He lost the popes support and
was sentenced to defend his writings in Rome. He was found guilty of heresy and
made to recant his beliefs. He received a life sentence of house arrest. It is
rumored that during his last moment before sentencing he uttered the rebellious
phrase “and yet it moves”.
Furthermore,
this 1633 trial of Galileo Galilei did not only end Galileo’s career
essentially but it also marked the end of the Italian Renaissance as well.
Galileo's
first instinct when noting Copernicus’s successful work was to turn to a few of
his like-minded friends, one of them being monk Benedetto Castelli. He most likely decided to keeps his opinions
out of the public, writing to Castelli: "In order to convince those obdurate
men, who are out for the vain approval of the stupid vulgar, it would not me
enough even if the stars came down on earth to bring witness about
themselves. Let us be concerned only
with gaining knowledge for ourselves, and let us find therein our consolation."
To paraphrase this quote, Galileo is stating that although he agrees with
Copernicus, he feels it may be best to allow the people to decide for
themselves what they should believe to be true.
However,
this plan quickly succumbed to Galileo’s persistent need for the truth. He soon
decided to address his arguments publically with various semi-simplistic styled
writings (i.e. tracts, pamphlets, letters, and dialogues) in order to better
fit his broadened audience. One of these writings just so happened to be a set
of letters called “The Solar Spots” which Galileo actually published. This
marked the beginning of the conflicts with the church as the Dominican friar
contacted Galileo claiming that he was violating Scripture:
"So
the sun stood still in the midst of heaven" or Isaiah 40:22
Galileo
later answered to this criticism with a letter of his own reasoning that the
Scripture was of course correct seeing as God’s word was law during the time
period. However he went on to state that some phrases within scripture should
be considered more figuratively rather than actually. With this he used a
brilliant example: "the hand of God" is not meant to be interpreted
as referring to a five-fingered appendage, but rather to God’s presence in our
selves and lives. Also, given this knowledge Galileo challenged that it would
be irrational to see his writings as backing up one point over the other.
"Who, would dare assert that we know all there is to be known?"
This
letter infuriated the church and they quickly deemed him as attacking God’s
word altogether. They took up the
matters at a higher level and threatened to condemn his work altogether.
Galileo then broke, pleading with the church in a powerful summary "do not
condemn it without understanding it, without hearing it, without even having
seen it."
The
church settled with Galileo and enjoined him rather than condemning his work.
He was forced to “abandon all of his opinions on the subject, sustain from
teaching or defending this opinion and even from discussing it."
This
lasted for several years until a new Pope came to power, giving Galileo a
newfound hope at publishing his works again. First encouraged by the new Pope
who seemed open to renewed debate Galileo began work on a book that would
eventually prove his undoing, Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems.
Unlike the works of Copernicus and Kepler, Galileo's Dialogue was a book for
the educated public, not specialists. Galileo organized a diversity of
arguments to lead his readers to one inevitable conclusion: Copernicus was
right.
This
was the final stroke of Galileo with the church which led to the official
surrender to the Holy Office and Inquisition. He then was imprisoned in the
Inquisition building for a short time before finally being released and allowed
back home where he grew blind and later died.
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