Galileo Galilei Astronomy – A Physicist, Mathematician, Astronomer, And Philosopher

At the end of the 16th century, a man named Galileo was born in Italy. He first became a math teacher even though he had no degree in the subject, and here he began his path to greatness. A baby step towards Galileo Galilei astronomy was when he demonstrated to students that different weight objects fell at the same speed, counter to Aristotle’s teachings. He lost his position for this perceived insult of a respected great, so he moved on to the University of Padua. It was here that his astronomy career began. In Padua, Galileo invented the compass and began studying physics. He developed formula for the path projectiles took, and for falling bodies. These works went on to guide astronomy for a long time. But at the time Galileo claimed to have no interest in the subject other than that he believed the work of Copernicus rather than that of Aristotle and Ptolemy. It was Copernicus who first described a solar system in which planets orbit the sun. Aristotle and Ptolemy held that the solar system was centered around the Earth, and even the sun rotated around our home. As time went by Copernicus, and Galileo, were proven correct. Galileo was the first to look at the night sky through a spyglass, thus using the first telescope. With a magnification of 20, this telescope helped Galileo discover .

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the mountains and craters on the moon. He also saw, for the first time, the individual stars that made up the Milky Way. He went on to discover Jupiter’s four largest moons. These discoveries brought him fame enough to earn the position of Florence’s court mathematician. Now he could devote full time to his studies. It took him only 9 months to discover Saturn’s phases. This further contradicted Ptolemy while proving that Copernicus was right. Galileo had a long standing feud with Aristotle’s beliefs and teachings. Many scientists agreed with Galileo, and so published his findings. But Aristotle was popular with the church because an Earth centered solar system put man’s home, and thus man, at the center of things. Galileo Galilei astronomy fell into disfavor and was denounced by the Church in 1614. Galileo retorted that the bible has no bearing on science. In 1616 Galileo was ordered to stop teaching that the Earth revolves around the sun. Galileo complied, continuing his study of falling objects, comets, and methods to determine longitude at sea based on the phases of Jupiter’s moons. It is said that Galileo had one comment after signing an agreement that the Earth does not move. "I would say here something that was heard from an ecclesiastic of the most eminent degree; "And yet … it moves."

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