What celestial body was discovered by Galileo? From Galileo's first telescope to new discoveries

About ten years passed after the heroic death of Bruno, and in 1610 the news of the amazing astronomical discoveries of the Italian scientist spread throughout the world Galileo Galilee.

The name of Galileo was already known to scientists.

became famous for his discoveries in physics and mechanics, but from a young age he was also interested in astronomy and was a staunch supporter of the teachings of Copernicus.

He believed that observation and experience are the surest means of understanding nature. Therefore, in astronomy he attached particular importance to observations of the sky. Copernicus, Bruno and their contemporaries

could see in the sky only what is visible to the naked eye. was the first scientist to begin observing the sky using the telescopes he built. How tiny these were

Galileo's trumpets compared to modern powerful telescopes that magnify images thousands of times! The first tube with which I began my observations only magnified three times. Later he managed to build a pipe with a magnification of thirty-two times. But how exciting, literally shocking to his contemporaries, were the discoveries made by Galileo using these homemade instruments!

Each of these discoveries was a clear confirmation of the teachings of the brilliant Nicolaus Copernicus

. Observing the Moon, I became convinced that it has mountains, plains and deep depressions. This meant that the lunar surface was similar in structure to the earth’s.

Discovered four satellites of Jupiter orbiting this planet. This discovery irrefutably proved that not only the Earth can be the center of circulation of the celestial bodies.

Observing sunspots, he discovered that they move along the solar surface, and concluded that the Sun rotates around its axis. After this, it was easy to admit that rotation around an axis is characteristic of all celestial bodies, and not just the Earth. But that was not all. Observing the starry sky, I became convinced that the number of stars is much greater than the naked eye can see. A huge white stripe in the sky -

Milky Way

These discoveries of Galileo were met with enthusiastic surprise from his contemporaries. Following Galileo, astronomers different countries began to observe the sky through astronomical telescopes and fully confirmed Galileo's discoveries. Thus, it became clear to all progressive people that Copernicus and Bruno were right, that the opinion about some exclusive role of the Earth in the universe does not stand up to criticism.

It is easy to understand the furious anger of the “church fathers” that Galileo’s discoveries, which dealt an even more crushing blow to religious inventions than Bruno’s inspired ideas, must have caused.

The cutting-edge science that confirmed Copernicus was right was scary for the church. The anger of the Roman churchmen fell upon all the followers of Copernicus, and first of all on Galileo. By a special decree of the Pope, the book of Copernicus was confiscated, and the propaganda of his teachings was prohibited. But he not only did not obey this prohibition, but, on the contrary, continued to develop the teachings of Copernicus.

For many years he worked on a great work, “Dialogue on the two most important systems of the world, Ptolemaic and Copernican.” In this book, which he managed to publish with great difficulty in 1632, he, summarizing his discoveries, convincingly showed the unconditional correctness of the teachings of Copernicus and the complete inconsistency of the Ptolemaic system. By publishing this book, he seemed to declare to the whole world that he was not afraid of threats from the church, that he was determined to fight to the end for the triumph of science against superstition and prejudice.

In response to the appearance of this book The Roman Church brought Galileo to trial before the Inquisition. In the reprisal of the great scientist, the “holy fathers” of the church saw the only way to save their authority, which was being destroyed by the successes of science.

It is difficult to imagine anything more shameful than the trial before which Galileo had to appear. He was forced to renounce the doctrine that the Earth rotates.

Having condemned Galileo, the Inquisition did everything to poison the last years of his life.. He lived under house arrest, and the blindness that befell him did not give him the opportunity to continue to engage in science. He died in 1642. A remarkable physicist, mechanic, successor of the work of Copernicus, a courageous fighter for science against religious superstition and ignorance - such was this great scientist.

15.02.1564 - 08.01.1642

A. Comparative.
1. Discoveries.

1.2.1. Prelude. "How".

2. About discoveries.




3.1. They and he.
3.2. Aristotle and Galileo.
4. Blindness.
4.1.About the outside world “Before”.

5. Fate.
5.1. Struggle.
Plus.
Minus.
5.2. Disease
"Plus".
Minus.
5.3. After death.
Minus.
Plus.

A. Comparative.

1. Discoveries.

1.1. What Galileo “invented” or “didn’t invent.”

Galileo invented the pendulum clock. But priority is given to Huygens - Galileo's design was published after his death, when Huygens had already patented his own.

(Huygens once again “got ahead” of Galileo when he correctly identified the rings of Saturn discovered by him, Galileo - Galileo described them as “ears”).

Galileo did not invent the telescope, but his, Galileo’s, telescope was so superior to its predecessors that many consider him to be the inventor, calling the inventions of others “spyglasses.”
(The operating principle of Galileo's telescope is used in theater binoculars.)

Galileo invented the thermometer (1592, thermoscope - an instrument that uses the expansion of air; it responds to temperature and air pressure). But for measuring temperature human body it was used by another (Sanctorium (Padua); determined the warmth of the sick).

The microscope was invented by Jansen (1590, Netherlands). But sometimes they write that Galileo did it (1612). And let his microscope be Bad quality, but with its help Galileo was able to study insects.

In addition, Gaul invented:

1586. Hydrostatic balances for determining the specific gravity of solids.
Defined specific gravity air.

1606. Proportional compass used in drafting.

1.2. Astronomical discoveries.

1.2.1. Prelude. "How".

July 1609. Telescope (Occhiale).

Galileo learns about the invention of the “telescope”.
Based on the laws of optics, Galileo selects the best combination of lenses.

In 2 weeks he designs a more powerful device (3x magnification).
Having achieved 32-fold magnification, Galileo began to study the sky (beginning 1610).

Of the 100 telescopes manufactured, Galileo used 7 (quality).

Somewhat earlier than Galileo, the telescope was used for astronomical purposes by the Englishman Thomas Harriot and the German Simon Marius.

1.2.2. What the man who was about to go blind saw in the sky.

Through his telescope, Galileo observed the Moon, planets and stars, experiencing, in his words, “incredible admiration.”

Mountains on the Moon.
The boundary between the illuminated part of the Moon and the rest, dark, is not a clear oval (absolutely spherical body), but sinuous, jagged.
(The fact that the edge of the lunar disk is smooth was explained by Galileo by the fact that mountain ranges are projected onto each other).
The impenetrable line between “earthly” and “heavenly” - the discovery of a common property - was destroyed.

Approximately estimated the height of the mountains by the shadow they cast.
Galileo's calculations indicate that the height of individual lunar mountains is more than 4 Italian miles.
(Significantly higher than on Earth - then it was believed that mountains on Earth did not reach even a mile).

Discovery of librations of the Moon.
(The Moon shows us more than half of its surface).

An observer on Earth sees almost 60% of the lunar surface due to the swaying of the Moon, its oscillations relative to the center of mass.

Note.
The Moon moves around the Sun synchronously with its movement around its axis (27.33 days).
Consequence: Because of this, the Moon always faces the Earth with one side.
Reason: Earth's gravitational force.

Milky Way. The light haze turned into myriads of stars.

Galileo's time.
The Milky Way-like whitish "clouds" were thought to be the denser parts of the sky.
Galileo:
These are clusters of stars.

All the disputes that tormented philosophers for centuries fell silent by themselves thanks to clarity and evidence... The Milky Way is nothing more than a cluster of countless stars, as if located in heaps.
Galileo.

Discovered 500 new stars in the constellation Orion.

Discovery of 4 satellites of Jupiter.

Galilean satellites.
Ganymede, Callisto, Io, Europa.

Galileo himself called them the Medicean luminaries, in honor of Cosimo II Medici.
(Simon Marius, who disputed Galileo's discovery, called them the Brandenburg luminaries - in honor of the Duke of Brandenburg).
To differentiate, they were named like the planets - Mercury of Jupiter, Venus of Jupiter, Mars of Jupiter and Jupiter of Jupiter.
Galileo “distinguished” them by numbers - I, II, III, IV.
1614. In the book “The World of Jupiter”, Marius mentions Kepler’s idea to name the satellites individually - Io, Europa. Ganymede and Callisto.

The “Galilean numbers” were finally abandoned only in 1847 (D. Herschel gives names to the satellites of Saturn; it was then that Kepler’s idea was remembered; in the 70s of the twentieth century the tradition was consolidated).
Cause:
When the VI and VII satellites of Saturn were discovered (1789. W. Herschel), they turned out to be closer to the planet than the first 5. Confusion arose (VI, VII, I, II, III, IV, V).

Note.
The Herschels mentioned are William and John - father and son.

Discovery of the phases of Venus.
(Similar to the phases of the Moon - new moon, 1st quarter, full moon, 3rd quarter, new moon).
Proof of the Earth's rotation around the Sun.
(If Venus and the Sun orbited the Earth, Venus would have no phases).

After the discovery, before the end of the check, Galileo reports the Latin phrase with the addition of 2 extra letters.
In translation:
These immature things are already being sorted out by me.
In decrypted form:
The mother of love imitates Cynthia's views
(Cynthia is one of the ancient names for the Moon).

Found sunspots.

XVII century Europe. 1611 (or late 1610). Opening of spots.
Several European scientists, including Galileo.
Galileo: December, 1610.
T. Herriot (England), J. Fabricius (Holland), H. Scheiner (Germany).

Fabricius was the first to notify Europe of the discovery of spots.
(claimed to have noticed the spot on March 9, 1611).
Harriot saw the sunspots on December 1, 1610. There is evidence that Galileo showed sunspots to close acquaintances as early as October 1610.

Observing sunspots, Galileo discovered that the Sun rotates slowly around its axis (+ Fabricius).

The discoveries were described in an essay (1610):
"The starry messenger, revealing the great and in highest degree amazing sights..."

Galileo and the rings of Saturn.
Galileo, who discovered them, had no idea about this phenomenon and could not see the ring for a very long time.
(I drew them in the form of “ears”).

2. About discoveries.

Such is the power of truth: you try to refute it, but your very attacks elevate it and give it greater value.
Galileo.

2.1. Galileo defending the Copernican system.

No one could surpass him in scientific discussions: he began by stating the point of view of his opponents more clearly than they could do themselves, and then smashed it to smithereens.

Galileo on the movement of the Earth:
With six hundred proofs and natural philosophical reasoning, we will confirm that the Earth moves and surpasses the Moon in its light, and is not a place where the dirt and scum of the whole world accumulates.

Galileo on the rotation of the Earth around its axis:
Who will believe that nature has chosen to move a huge number of enormous bodies and their immeasurable speed for the same result that could be achieved by the moderate movement of a single body around its own center?

Galileo.
Interpretation of the place in the Bible where Joshua begged the Lord to stop the Sun.
This passage clearly proves the impossibility of the system of Aristotle and Ptolemy, but agrees perfectly with the Copernican system.

Galileo:
In order to destroy the teachings of Copernicus, it is not enough to silence someone. It is also necessary to impose a ban on all astronomical science and, moreover, to prohibit anyone from looking at the sky!

2.2. About the astronomical discoveries of Galileo. Praise.
1 Gal (Galileo) = 1 cm/sec^2 = 10^-2 m/s^2).

At first the telescope was considered a miracle. Therefore, the church approved of Galileo's discoveries.

Galileo's astronomical discoveries were compared to the discovery of America; wrote that the current century will rightfully be proud of the discovery of “new heavens.” The name of Galileo was glorified in numerous letters, and odes were written in his honor, where he is compared to Columbus.

Galileo becomes the most famous scientist in Europe.

2.3. About the astronomical discoveries of Galileo. Reproach.
(The unit of acceleration was named after Galileo.
Currently not applicable (non-system unit of measure)).

Philosophers fly, and fly only like eagles, but not at all like jackdaws. Eagles are extremely rare, few are seen, even less are heard, while birds flying in flocks fill the sky with piercing cries, make noise when they land, and shit on the ground beneath them.
Galileo.

2.3.1. General mistrust.

The doubts stemmed not from mistrust of Galileo, but from the fear that the instrument (the telescope) by its nature gave rise to phantasms.

/Trenched views do not allow us to think about creating an optical instrument suitable for observing the sky/

Optical glasses cannot be trusted at all: glasses that are used by old people are not suitable for young people, and those that are suitable for young people are useless for old people.

Since the Galilean instrument “discovers” things that are completely unthinkable in the light of prevailing scientific ideas, then it is therefore not suitable for studying the sky.

Truly, just as he has no ears, so these eyes are closed to the light of truth. This kind of people thinks that philosophy is some kind of book, like the Aeneid or the Odyssey, but truth must be sought not in the world, not in nature, but in the comparison of texts.
Galileo.

2.3.2. On the discovery of mountains on the Moon.

Ideas for the “appearance” of the illusion of mountains on the Moon:
Maybe the Moon seems unsmooth to us because it, like a spherical mirror, reflects the unevenness of the Earth.
The sun's rays penetrate into the depths of the Moon in different ways: hence the play of shadows, creating the illusion of mountainousness.

2.3.3. On the discovery of the moons of Jupiter.

Astronomer Francesco Sizzi (Italian: Sizzi).
Seven is a perfect number, and even in the human head there are seven holes, so there can only be seven planets, and Galileo’s discoveries are an illusion.
Astrologers and doctors - the emergence of new celestial bodies is “disastrous for astrology and most of medicine,” since all the usual astrological methods “will be completely destroyed.”

The moons of Jupiter are not visible to the naked eye, so they cannot influence the Earth. Therefore, even if they existed, they would be useless. And therefore they cannot exist.

(Galileo tried to find a method for determining longitude using the satellites of Jupiter - due to the lack of accurate chronometers at that time, it was quite difficult to determine longitude on the open sea.
(Eclipse method - their eclipses were observed 180 times more often than lunar eclipses).
1726. Bradley. Using Galileo's method, he determined the longitudes of Lisbon and New York with “remarkable accuracy.”
1676. Remer. Using the eclipse of Jupiter's satellite (Io), he qualitatively calculated the speed of light for the first time).

Apelles. Contemporary of Galileo.
Discovers the 5th satellite of Jupiter.
After 10 days it disappears.
Maybe it will never exist again, which according to Apelles is natural: it is an illusion to think that the observed satellites of Jupiter are the same celestial bodies rotating in certain orbits.

Cortona Academy.
The unanimous decision is that the satellites noticed by Galileo are nothing more than an optical illusion.

Cesare Cremenini XVII (read scholasticism at the University of Padua):
I will no longer look through a telescope, so as not to see the satellites of Jupiter discovered by Galileo - this refutes Aristotle.

Galileo Libri, refusing to look through a telescope to see the moons of Jupiter:
I hope that, going to the sky, he will finally notice my satellites, which he did not want to see from Earth.

2.3.4. For the discovery of sunspots.

Majini: Galileo is mistaken, I myself, observing solar eclipses through colored glasses, I saw 3 Suns!

Galileo on sunspots.
(In the variability and transience of sunspots, Galileo immediately saw the strongest proof of the falsity of the thesis about the immutability of the sky, about the incomparability of things on earth and in heaven).
Scholastic scientists have so far been very lucky - comets and new stars, undermining the belief in the immutability and perfection of the heavens, appeared and soon disappeared. Spots on the Sun will be eternal torture for them. Nature took revenge on the stubborn people who did not want to see the light of truth.

2.3.5. On the disappearance of the “rings” of Saturn.

Maybe Saturn ate his children?

Ignorance is the mother of malice, envy, greed and all other low and gross vices, as well as sins.
Galileo.

3. Galileo's mistakes. Comparative.

3.1. They and he.

With the discovery of mountains on the Moon, Galileo united “heavenly and earthly.”
But he left a division for movement - vertical fall is inherent in terrestrial bodies, and circular movement in celestial ones.

Most of Galileo's astronomical discoveries were considered illusions.
Galileo himself believed that comets were optical illusions. Whether as a joke or seriously, we don’t know.

“Mocking” for the mind, the rejection of the satellites of Jupiter by the “astronomer” Sizzi.
No less “mockingly” for the mind, Galileo did not accept “Kepler’s ellipses.”
(Movement of planets in ellipses around the Sun.
Galileo denies this for aesthetic reasons - in his opinion, uniform circular motion reigns in the world.
Kepler himself, introducing ellipses, calls them manure, which he had to introduce into astronomy in order to rid it of even more manure).

3.2. Aristotle and Galileo.

"Plato is my friend..."
There seems to be not a single phenomenon worthy of attention that he (Aristotle) ​​would pass by without touching it.
Galileo.

“... but the truth is more precious.”
Aristotle himself taught me to satisfy my mind only with what reasoning convinces me of, and not just with the authority of the teacher.
Galileo.

In a sense, Galileo spent his entire life struggling with two of Aristotle's propositions: the central position of the Earth in the Universe and the fact that bodies with different weights fall to the Earth at different speeds. They are “united” by something else. Both thought about the causes of the tides and never solved their riddle; in both, one can find similarities in the process of “creating” errors.

About the tides.
Aristotle.
Legend. Aristotle seeks the cause of the ebb and flow of the tides. Doesn't find her. Out of despair he threw himself into the sea.
Galileo.
Gives an incorrect explanation of the ebb and flow of tides.

About the logic of errors.

Aristotle. Falling bodies
Bodies falling in emptiness will have equal speed.
Emptiness is impossible.
Conclusion: Falling bodies have different speeds.

Galileo. Explanation of ebb and flow.
Tides are a manifestation of inertia.
(Version: Galileo believed that the tides were caused by the “breath” of the Earth).

The “necessity” of this error for Galileo:
he proved the movement of the Earth by the presence of ebbs and flows.
(If there were no ebbs and flows, the Earth would be motionless.
There are tides.
Conclusion: The Earth is moving).

Example (correct):
Barge with water.
Braking - water rushes to the nose.
Acceleration - water rushes towards the stern.

Explanation (incorrect):
The cause of tides is a change in the speed of water, which consists of the speed of rotation of the Earth and the speed of its orbital motion.

The true cause of ebb and flow (Newton).
The ebb and flow of the tides is caused by the uneven attraction of water in the ocean from the side of the Moon.

4. Blindness.

4.1.About the outside world “Before”.

1615. Galileo.
When I consider the world, the boundaries of which are set by our external senses, I absolutely cannot say whether it is large or small: I will, of course, say that it is extremely large in comparison with the world of earthworms and other worms, which, having no other means of measuring it, apart from the sense of touch, they cannot consider it larger than the space that they themselves occupy; and I am not at all disgusted by the idea that the world, the boundaries of which are determined by our external senses, can be as small in relation to the Universe as the world of worms is in relation to our world.

4.2. About the outside world "After".

Galileo about his blindness (became blind in early December 1637).
You, your Lordship, can imagine in what sorrow I am when I think that that heaven, that world and that universe, which with my amazing observations and clear evidence I expanded hundreds and thousands of times compared to what is usually the sages of all past centuries saw it, now for me it has diminished and narrowed so much that it has become no more than the space that my person occupies.

5. Fate.

February 19, 1473 Birth of Copernicus
February 15, 1564 Birth of Galileo
17 February 1600 Execution of Bruno

5.1. Struggle.

Young Galileo gets a job at the Department of Mathematics at the University of Pisa with the help of the patronage of the half-brother of the Grand Duke of Tuscany, Giovanni Medici.
After some time, Giovanni creates a type of dredge. The model works great. Everyone is delighted. Medici proposes to use it for the reconstruction of the port of Livorno.
All for it. Galileo vs.
The car is being built. And it breaks exactly in the place that Galileo pointed out.
Giovanni replaces love with anger and enmity, which turned out to be lifelong.
Galileo leaves the University of Pisa due to the belief that his contract will not be renewed.

06/22/1633 Trial of Galileo.
Renunciation of his views on the Universe and rejection of the teachings of Copernicus.

“I, Galileo, son of the late Vincenzo Galilei of Florence, seventy years of age, appearing in person before the court and kneeling before you, most eminent and most venerable cardinals, general inquisitors of all heresies Christendom... I renounce, blaspheme and curse the above-mentioned errors in heresy..."

According to some reports, on the eve of his abdication, Galileo’s beloved daughter died of dysentery at the age of 33.
(04/02/1633; according to other, more frequent sources, she died almost immediately after the trial).

How should heavy rods be placed on supports so that they do not break?
Galileo found that the length of a heavy rod that does not break under its own weight is the same, regardless of whether the rod rests on both ends or in the middle.

5.2. Diseases.

~1593. Terrible heat. Galileo and his friends are invited to a rich villa near Vicenza.
The “8th wonder of the world” of the villa is a room that is surprisingly cool on the hottest days.
The reason is the hatch leading to the dungeon.
After lunch, Galileo and his comrades lay down to rest.
The servant opened the hatch wider.
Result: One of the guests died, the other became deaf and soon also died, and Galileo became seriously ill and did not fully recover from the illness until the end of his life.
(Acute inflammation of the joints).

Minus.

At the end of his life he became blind (1638/37).

Alas! Your faithful friend and servant has become completely and irreparably blind. These heavens, this Earth, this Universe, which, contrary to the ideas of previous centuries, I increased a thousand times with my observations, for me has now shrunk into a narrow hole that I myself occupy. It’s the Lord’s will, so it should be good for me too.
Galileo.

I would willingly agree to be imprisoned and drag out my days there on bread and water, if only at the end of the term I could see the light again and clearly understand what it represents!
Galileo.

5.3. After death.

“On January 8, 1642, Galileo died and was buried in the monastic chapel of the Cathedral of Santa Croce in Florence without honors or a tombstone, since the church authorities did not allow the scientist’s body to be placed in the Galileo family crypt. Only in 1737 was Galileo’s last will fulfilled - his ashes were transferred to the place of eternal rest.”

1979. Solemn meeting of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences.
Pope John Paul II officially admitted that the Inquisition made a mistake in 1633, forcing Galileo to renounce the Copernican theory.

Reviews

"Ebbs and flows are the result of overturning whirlpools." Forum of the Institute of Oceanology. Topic "Hypotheses, riddles, ideas, insights" http://www.oceanographers.ru/forum/viewt opic.php?f=2&t=175

The waters of lakes, seas and oceans in the northern hemisphere rotate counterclockwise, while the waters in the southern hemisphere rotate clockwise, forming giant whirlpools.

At the same time, there is a strict pattern: the faster the whirlpools rotate, the higher the amplitude of the tidal wave.
The average rotation speed of the Caspian and Black Sea waters is 0.5 km per hour, and the average tidal wave height is 5 cm.
The average speed of rotation of the waters of the Sea of ​​Okhotsk and the White Sea is 2 km. per hour, and the height of the tidal wave is 20 cm.
In the bays, the speed of rotation of the whirlpools and the amplitude of the tidal wave are much higher.
The question posed is easily answered by the hypothesis of precessing whirlpools.

As is known, everything that rotates, including whirlpools, has the property of a gyroscope (spinning top), maintaining the vertical position of the axis in space, regardless of the rotation of the Earth..

If you look at the Earth from the Sun, the whirlpools, rotating with the Earth, overturn twice a day, due to which the whirlpools precess (sway 1-2 degrees) and reflect the tidal wave along the entire perimeter of the sea.

The waters of the White Sea rotate counterclockwise, forming a huge whirlpool-gyro, precessing and reflecting the tidal wave along the entire perimeter of the White Sea. A similar pattern of ebbs and flows is observed in all lakes, seas and oceans.

A tidal wave in the Amazon River is created by a huge planetary whirlpool, several thousand km in diameter, rotating between South America and North Africa, covering the mouth of the Amazon River..

The tidal wave amplitude created by the precession of whirlpools can be expressed mathematically using the following formula.
A = v: t
Where: A is the tidal wave amplitude (precession angle).
v is the rotation speed of the whirlpool.
t - time of whirlpool overturning (12 hours)..

The hypothesis was published in the Russian-German scientific, peer-reviewed journal “Eastern European Scientific Journal” No. 3/2015. Page 64. Link to the magazine on the Internet.
http://www.auris-archiv.de/journal.html

The discovery was published in the scientific journal, “Reports of independent authors” No. 33/2015. Page 97. Internet link http://dna.izdatelstwo.com
The initiative group is preparing documents for awarding the discovery of the Nobel Prize in the category: Physics.

Yusup Khizirov 08/26/2015 16:55 Report violation

One of the most famous astronomers, physicists and philosophers in human history is Galileo Galilei. short biography and his discoveries, which you will now learn about, will give you a general idea of ​​this outstanding man.

First steps in the world of science

Galileo was born in Pisa (Italy), February 15, 1564. At the age of eighteen, the young man entered the University of Pisa to study medicine. His father pushed him to take this step, but due to lack of money, Galileo was soon forced to leave his studies. However, the time that the future scientist spent at the university was not in vain, because it was here that he began to take a keen interest in mathematics and physics. No longer a student, the gifted Galileo Galilei did not abandon his hobbies. A brief biography and his discoveries made during this period played an important role in the future fate of the scientist. He devotes some time to independent research into mechanics, and then returns to the University of Pisa, this time as a mathematics teacher. After some time, he was invited to continue teaching at the University of Padua, where he explained to students the basics of mechanics, geometry and astronomy. It was at this time that Galileo began to make discoveries significant for science.

In 1593, the first scientist was published - a book with the laconic title “Mechanics”, in which Galileo described his observations.

Astronomical research

After the book was published, a new Galileo Galilei was “born”. A short biography and his discoveries is a topic that cannot be discussed without mentioning the events of 1609. After all, it was then that Galileo independently built his first telescope with a concave eyepiece and a convex lens. The device gave an increase of approximately three times. However, Galileo did not stop there. Continuing to improve his telescope, he increased the magnification to 32 times. While using it to observe the Earth's satellite, the Moon, Galileo discovered that its surface, like the Earth's, was not flat, but covered with various mountains and numerous craters. Four stars were also discovered through the glass and changed their usual sizes, and for the first time the idea of ​​their global remoteness arose. turned out to be a huge accumulation of millions of new celestial bodies. In addition, the scientist began to observe, study the movement of the Sun and make notes about sunspots.

Conflict with the Church

The biography of Galileo Galilei is another round in the confrontation between the science of that time and church teaching. The scientist, based on his observations, soon comes to the conclusion that the heliocentric one, first proposed and substantiated by Copernicus, is the only correct one. This was contrary to the literal understanding of Psalms 93 and 104, as well as Ecclesiastes 1:5, which refers to the immobility of the Earth. Galileo was summoned to Rome, where they demanded that he stop promoting “heretical” views, and the scientist was forced to comply.

However, Galileo Galilei, whose discoveries at that time were already appreciated by some representatives of the scientific community, did not stop there. In 1632, he made a cunning move - he published a book entitled “Dialogue on the two most important systems of the world - Ptolemaic and Copernican.” This work was written in an unusual form of dialogue at that time, the participants of which were two supporters of the Copernican theory, as well as one follower of the teachings of Ptolemy and Aristotle. Pope Urban VIII, good friend Galileo, even gave permission to publish the book. But this did not last long - after just a couple of months, the work was recognized as contrary to the tenets of the church and banned. The author was summoned to Rome for trial.

The investigation lasted quite a long time: from April 21 to June 21, 1633. On June 22, Galileo was forced to pronounce the text proposed to him, according to which he renounced his “false” beliefs.

The last years in the life of a scientist

I had to work in the most difficult conditions. Galileo was sent to his Villa Archertri in Florence. Here he was under constant supervision of the Inquisition and had no right to go to the city (Rome). In 1634, the scientist’s beloved daughter died, for a long time took care of him.

Death came to Galileo on January 8, 1642. He was buried on the territory of his villa, without any honors and even without a tombstone. However, in 1737, almost a hundred years later, the scientist’s last will was fulfilled - his ashes were transferred to the monastic chapel of the Florence Cathedral of Santa Croce. On the seventeenth of March he was finally buried there, not far from Michelangelo’s tomb.

Posthumous rehabilitation

Was Galileo Galilei right in his beliefs? A short biography and his discoveries have long been a topic of debate between clergy and luminaries of the scientific world; many conflicts and disputes have developed on this basis. However, only on December 31, 1992 (!) John Paul II officially admitted that the Inquisition in the 33rd year of the 17th century made a mistake, forcing the scientist to renounce the heliocentric theory of the universe formulated by Nicolaus Copernicus.

“ShkolaLa” welcomes all its readers who want to know a lot.

Once upon a time everyone thought like this:

The earth is a flat, huge nickel,

But one man took the telescope,

Opened the way for us to the space age.

Who do you think this is?

Among the scientists known throughout the world is Galileo Galilei. In which country you were born and how you studied, what you discovered and what you became famous for – these are the questions to which we will look for answers today.

Lesson plan:

Where are future scientists born?

The poor family where little Galileo Galilei was born in 1564 lived in the Italian city of Pisa.

The father of the future scientist was a true master in various fields, from mathematics to art history, so it is not at all surprising that from childhood young Galileo fell in love with painting and music and gravitated toward the exact sciences.

When the boy turned eleven, the family from Pisa, where Galileo lived, moved to another city in Italy - Florence.

There he began his studies in a monastery, where the young student demonstrated brilliant abilities in the study of sciences. He even thought about a career as a clergyman, but his father did not approve of his choice, wanting his son to become a doctor. That is why, at seventeen, Galileo moved to the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Pisa and began to diligently study philosophy, physics and mathematics.

However, he was unable to graduate from university for a simple reason: his family could not pay for his further education. Having left the third year, student Galileo begins self-education in the field of physical and mathematical sciences.

Thanks to his friendship with the wealthy Marquis del Monte, the young man managed to obtain a paid scientific position as a teacher of astronomy and mathematics at the University of Pisa.

During his university work, he conducted various experiments, the result of which were the laws of free fall, the movement of a body on an inclined plane and the force of inertia that he discovered.

Since 1606, the scientist has been closely involved in astronomy.

Interesting Facts! The full name of the scientist is Galileo di Vincenzo Bonaiuti de Galilei.

About mathematics, mechanics and physics

It is said that, while a university professor in the town of Pisa, Galileo conducted experiments by dropping objects of different weights from the height of the Leaning Tower of Pisa to disprove Aristotle's theory. Even in some textbooks you can find such a picture.

Only these experiments are not mentioned anywhere in Galileo’s works. Most likely, as researchers today believe, this is a myth.

But the scientist rolled objects along an inclined plane, measuring time by his own heart pulse. There were no accurate clocks back then! These very experiments were put into the laws of motion of bodies.

Galileo was credited with inventing the thermometer in 1592. The device was then called a thermoscope, and it was completely primitive. A thin glass tube was soldered to the glass ball. This structure was placed in liquid. The air in the ball heated up and displaced the liquid in the tube. The higher the temperature, the more air in the ball and the lower the water level in the tube.

In 1606, an article appeared where Galileo laid out a drawing of a proportional compass. This is a simple tool that converted measured dimensions to scale and was used in architecture and drafting.

Galileo is credited with the invention of the microscope. In 1609, he made a “small eye” with two lenses - convex and concave. Using his invention, the scientist examined insects.

With his research, Galileo laid the foundations of classical physics and mechanics. Thus, on the basis of his conclusions about inertia, Newton subsequently established the first law of mechanics, according to which any body is at rest or moves uniformly in the absence of external forces.

His studies of pendulum oscillations formed the basis for the invention of the pendulum clock and made it possible to make precise measurements in physics.

Interesting Facts! Galileo not only excelled in the natural sciences, but was also creative person: He knew literature very well and wrote poetry.

About astronomical discoveries that shocked the world

In 1609, a scientist heard a rumor about the existence of a device that could help view distant objects by collecting light. If you already guessed, it was called a telescope, which is translated from Greek as “look far away.”

For his invention, Galileo modified the telescope with lenses, and this device was capable of magnifying objects 3 times. Time after time, he assembled a new combination of several telescopes, and it gave more and more magnification. As a result, Galileo’s “visionary” began to zoom in 32 times.

What discoveries in the field of astronomy belonged to Galileo Galilei and made him famous throughout the world, becoming real sensations? How did his invention help the scientist?

• Galileo Galilei told everyone that this is a planet comparable to the Earth. He saw plains, craters and mountains on its surface.
• Thanks to the telescope, Galileo discovered four satellites of Jupiter, today called “Galilean”, and appeared to everyone in the form of a strip, crumbling into many stars.
• By placing smoked glass at the telescope, the scientist was able to examine it, see spots on it and prove to everyone that it was the Earth that revolved around it, and not vice versa, as Aristotle believed and religion and the Bible said.
• He was the first to see the surroundings, which he took for satellites, today known to us as rings, found different phases of Venus and made it possible to observe previously unknown stars.

Galileo Galilei combined his discoveries in the book “Star Messenger”, confirming the hypothesis that our planet is mobile and rotates around an axis, and the sun does not revolve around us, which caused the condemnation of the church. His work was called heresy, and the scientist himself lost his freedom of movement and was placed under house arrest.

Interesting Facts! It is quite surprising for our developed world that it was only in 1992 that the Vatican and the Pope recognized that Galileo was right about the rotation of the Earth around the Sun. Until this time, the Catholic Church was sure that the opposite was happening: our planet is motionless, and the Sun “walks” around us.

This is how you can briefly tell about the life of an outstanding scientist who gave impetus to the development of astronomy, physics and mathematics.

A famous science and entertainment television program was named after Galileo Galilei. The host of this program, Alexander Pushnoy, and his colleagues conducted all sorts of different experiments and tried to explain what they did. I suggest watching an excerpt from this wonderful program right now.

“ShkolaLa” says goodbye for a while to look for and share useful information with you again and again.

February 15 marks the 450th anniversary of the birth of the great Italian physicist, mathematician, engineer and philosopher Galileo Galilei (1564 - 1642), one of the founders of modern science. We have prepared a story about 14 interesting facts about the life and scientific work of the founder of experimental physics, with whom modern physics began in the 17th century.

1. The Inquisition tried Galileo for his book on the Sun and Earth

Domenico Tintoretto. Galileo Galilei. 1605-1607

The reason for the inquisition process in 1633 was Galileo’s just published book “Dialogue on the two greatest systems of the world, Ptolemy and Copernicus,” where he proved the truth of heliocentrism and argued with peripatetic (i.e., Aristotelian physics), as well as with the Ptolemaic system, according to in which the motionless Earth is located at the center of the world. The Catholic Church then adhered to this idea of ​​​​the structure of the world.
The main complaint of the Inquisition against Galileo was his confidence in the objective truth of the heliocentric system of the world. Moreover, the Catholic Church for a long time had nothing against Copernicanism, provided that it would be interpreted simply as a hypothesis or mathematical assumption, which simply allows us to better describe the world(“save phenomena”), without claiming objective truth and reliability. Only in 1616, more than 70 years after its publication, Copernicus’s book “De revolutionibus” (“On Conversions”) was included in the “Index of Prohibited Books.”

2. Galileo was accused of diminishing the authority of the Bible

Giuseppe Bertini. Galileo shows the telescope to the Doge of Venice. 1858

The Inquisition accused Galileo of exceeding the powers of reason and belittling the authority of Holy Scripture. Galileo was a rationalist who believed in the power of reason in the knowledge of nature: reason, according to Galileo, knows the truth “with the certainty that nature itself has.” The Catholic Church believed that any scientific theory is only hypothetical in nature and cannot achieve perfect knowledge of the secrets of the universe. Galileo was sure of the opposite: “... the human mind knows some truths as completely and with the same absolute certainty as nature itself has: these are pure mathematical sciences, geometry and arithmetic; although the Divine mind knows in them infinitely more truths... but in those few that the human mind has comprehended, I think its knowledge is equal in objective certainty to the Divine, for it comes to understand their necessity, and the highest degree of certainty does not exist.”

According to Galileo, in the event of a conflict in the matter of knowledge of nature with any other authority, including even with the Holy Scriptures, reason should not yield: “It seems to me that when discussing natural problems we should start not from the authority of the texts of the Holy Scriptures, but from sensory experiences and the necessary evidence... I believe that everything concerning the actions of nature that is accessible to our eyes or can be understood through logical evidence should not raise doubts, much less be condemned on the basis of the texts of Holy Scripture, perhaps even misunderstood. God reveals himself to us no less in natural phenomena than in the sayings of Holy Scripture... It would be dangerous to attribute Holy Scripture any judgment that has been challenged at least once by experience.”

3. Galileo considered himself a good Catholic

Giovanni Lorenzo Bertini. Pope Urban VIII. OK. 1625

Galileo himself considered himself a faithful son catholic church and did not intend to enter into conflict with her. Initially, Pope Urban VIII patronized Galileo and his scientific research for a long time. They were on good terms even when the Pope was Cardinal Matteo Barberini. But by the time of the inquisitorial trial of the great physicist, Urban VIII had suffered a number of serious failures; he was accused of political union with the Protestant king of Sweden, Gustavus Adolf, against Catholic Spain and Austria. Also, the authority of the Catholic Church was seriously undermined by the Reformation that was going on at that time. Against this background, when Urban VIII was informed about Galileo’s “Dialogue,” the annoyed pope even believed that one of the participants in the dialogue, the Aristotelian Simplicio, whose arguments were smashed to smithereens during the conversation, was a caricature of himself. The pope's anger was combined with calculation: the inquisition process was supposed to demonstrate the unbroken spirit of the Catholic Church and the Counter-Reformation.

4. Galileo was not tortured, but he was threatened with torture.

Joseph-Nicolas Robert-Fleury. Galileo before the Inquisition. 1847

Galileo was threatened with torture during his 1633 trial if he did not recant his “heretical” belief that the Earth moved around the Sun. Some historians still think that Galileo may have been tortured on a “moderate scale,” but most are inclined to believe that there was none. He was threatened with torture in words (territio verbalis), without intimidation through the actual demonstration of torture instruments (territio realis). However, Galileo resolutely renounced the teachings of Copernicus, and there was no need to torture him. The final formula of the sentence left Galileo "under strong suspicion of heresy" and ordered him to purify himself by renunciation. His “Dialogue on the Two Greatest Systems of the World” was included in the “Index of Prohibited Books” by the Catholic Church, and Galileo himself was also sentenced to a prison term to be set by the Pope.
In general, in the story of Galileo, the Catholic Church, in a certain sense, behaved quite moderately. During the trial in Rome, Galileo lived with the Florentine ambassador at the Villa Medici. Living conditions there were far from prison-like. After his abdication, Galileo immediately returned (the pope did not keep Galileo in prison) to the villa of the Tuscan Duke in Rome, and then later moved to his friend, the Archbishop of Siena, his friend Ascanio Piccolomini and settled in his palace.

5. The Inquisition burned not Galileo, but Giordano Bruno

In this regard, let us clarify, as in the case of Copernicus, that the Inquisition burned not Galileo at the stake, but Giordano Bruno.
This Italian Dominican monk, philosopher and poet, was burned in Rome in 1600 not just for his belief in the truth of the Copernican system of the world. Bruno was a conscious and persistent heretic (which, perhaps, does not justify, but at least somehow explains the actions of the Inquisition). Here is the text of the denunciation that his student, the young Venetian aristocrat Giovanni Mocenigo, sent against Bruno to the Inquisition: “I, Giovanni Mocenigo, denounce out of conscience and by order of my confessor, which I heard many times from Giordano Bruno when I talked with him in my house, that the world is eternal and there are infinite worlds... that Christ performed imaginary miracles and was a magician, that Christ did not die of his own free will and, as far as he could, tried to avoid death; that there is no retribution for sins; that souls created by nature pass from one living being to another. He talked about his intention to become the founder of a new sect called "new philosophy." He said that the Virgin Mary could not give birth;
monks disgrace the world; that they are all donkeys; that we have no proof whether our faith has merit before God.”

For six years Giordano Bruno was imprisoned in Rome, refusing to admit his beliefs were a mistake. When Bruno was sentenced to be subjected to “the most merciful punishment and without shedding of blood” (burning alive), the philosopher and heretic responded by telling the judges: “To burn does not mean to refute!”

6. Galileo did not utter the famous phrase “But still it turns!”
In fact, Galileo ended his renunciation in the Roman church of Sancta Maria sopra Minerva (“Holy Mary triumphs over Athena Minerva”) on June 22, 1633 with the following words: “I have composed and printed a book in which I treat this condemned doctrine and bring it into its favor strong arguments, without giving their final refutation, as a result of this, I am recognized by this holy court as highly suspected of heresy, as if I adhere and believe that the Sun is the center of the world and is motionless, while the Earth is not the center and moves. And therefore, wishing to expel from the thoughts of your Eminences, as well as from the mind of every devoted Christian, this strong suspicion, legitimately aroused against me, from a pure heart and with unfeigned faith I renounce, curse, declare hateful the above-mentioned errors and heresies, and in general all and any contrary the above-mentioned holy church of errors, heresies and sectarian teachings."

7. Galileo invented the telescope

Galileo was the first to use a telescope (spotting scope) to observe the sky. The discoveries he made in 1609-1610 constituted a real milestone in astronomy. Using a telescope, Galileo was the first to discover that Milky Way is a giant cluster of stars and that Jupiter has moons. These were the four largest satellites of Jupiter - Europa, Ganymede, Io and Callisto, nicknamed Galilean in honor of their discoverer (today astronomers count 67 satellites on the largest planet in the solar system).
Galileo saw through the telescope the uneven, hilly surface of the Moon, mountains and craters on its surface. He also observes sunspots, the phases of Venus and sees Saturn with three faces (what he at first also mistook for Saturn’s satellites turned out to be the edges of its famous rings).

8. Galileo proved Aristotle wrong in his views on the Earth and the Moon and changed man’s ideas about the Earth and space.

Joseph-Nicolas Robert-Fleury. Galileo before the Inquisition.

There have been very few events in the history of science that are similar to this series of discoveries in terms of the public resonance it caused and the impact on people's thinking. Before Galileo, Aristotelianism occupied the dominant position in European science and culture. According to Aristotelian physics, there was a radical difference between the supralunar and sublunar worlds. If “under the moon”, in earthly world everything is perishable and subject to change and death, then in the supralunar world, in the sky, according to Aristotle, ideal patterns reign, and all celestial bodies are eternal and perfect, ideally smooth. The discoveries of Galileo, in particular, the contemplation of the uneven, hilly surface of the Moon, were one of the decisive steps towards understanding that the entire cosmos or the world as a whole is structured the same, that the same patterns apply everywhere in it.

By the way, it is interesting to note the significant difference between the impression that the contemplation of the Moon made on Galileo’s contemporaries and that it makes on us today. Our contemporary, looking through a telescope at the Moon, is struck by how different the Moon is from the Earth: he, first of all, pays attention to the somewhat dull, gray and waterless surface. In the time of Galileo, on the contrary, people were surprised at how similar the Moon turned out to be to the Earth. For us, the idea of ​​a physical relationship between the Earth and the Moon has already become trivial. For Galileo, the ridges and craters on the Moon were a clear refutation of the Aristotelian opposition between the celestial bodies and the Earth.

10. Galileo changed our ideas about space and the movement of bodies

The main idea of ​​Galileo's scientific work was the idea of ​​the world as an ordered system of bodies that move one relative to another in a homogeneous space, devoid of privileged directions or points. For example, what is considered top or bottom, according to Galileo, depends on the chosen frame of reference. In Aristotelian physics, the world was a limited space, where up or down was clearly distinguished. All bodies either rested in their “natural places” or moved towards them. Homogeneity of space, relativity of motion - these were the principles of the new scientific picture of the world laid down by Galileo. In addition, for Aristotle, rest was more important and better than movement: with him the body, which was not acted upon by forces, is always at rest. Galileo introduced the principle of inertia (if no forces act on a body, it is at rest or moves uniformly), which equalized rest and motion. Now motion at a constant speed does not require a reason. This was the greatest revolution in the teaching of motion, marking the beginning of a new science. Galileo considered the question of the finitude or infinity of the world insoluble.

11. Galileo was the first to combine physics with mathematics

Galileo's most important innovation in science was his desire to mathematize physics, to describe the world around him not in the language of qualities, as in Aristotelian physics, but in the language of mathematics. Galileo wrote: “I will never demand from external bodies anything other than size, figure, quantity and more or less rapid movements in order to explain the occurrence of the sensations of taste, smell and sound. I think that if we eliminated the ears, tongues, noses, then only figures, numbers, movements would remain, but not smells, tastes and sounds, which, in my opinion, outside a living being are nothing more than empty opinion.” . And when the famous physicist, laureate Nobel Prize in physics 1979 Steven Weinberg says that the essence of modern physics is a quantitative understanding of phenomena, it is important to know that the basis for this was laid by Galileo Galilei in his experiments on measuring the movement of stones falling from the top of a tower, balls rolling on an inclined plane, etc.

12. Galileo's physics is based on ideas that cannot be tested.

Galileo is considered the founder of experimental natural science, when science turns from purely logical, speculative theorizing to direct observation of nature and experimentation with it. Meanwhile, the reader of Galileo’s works is struck by how often he resorts to thought experiments. They have the ability to prove their truth even before their actual implementation. Galileo seemed to be convinced of their truth even before any experiment.
This suggests that classical physics, the foundation of which was laid by Galileo, is not an unpremised and therefore the only true observation of nature “as it is.” It itself rests on certain fundamental speculative assumptions. After all, the foundations of Galileo’s physics are built from fundamentally unobservable elements: infinite inertial motion, motion material point in emptiness, the movement of the Earth, etc. It was precisely Aristotelian physics that was closer to immediate evidence: the difference between up and down in space, the movement of the Sun around the Earth, the rest of a body if external forces do not act on it, etc.

13. Galileo’s trial proved that the objects of faith and science cannot be mixed

The Galileo case caused great damage to the authority of the Catholic Church. Her mistake was that the idea from scientific theories, created, by the way, by pagans. After all, Aristotle’s physics, like Ptolemy’s system, is a legacy of antiquity. But the doctrine of the motion of the earth cannot be a theological question. Dogmas must concern areas of faith where science has no access. For example, in the “Creed” there is not a single definition that could be confirmed or refuted scientifically.

14. The Church admitted its mistakes in the Galileo case

In 1758, Pope Benedict XIV ordered works that defended heliocentrism to be removed from the Index of Prohibited Books. This work was carried out slowly and was completed only in 1835.
Voices about the need to rehabilitate Galileo were heard at the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965). Later, Pope John Paul II took up the rehabilitation of Galileo. In 1989, Cardinal Poupard stated regarding the condemnation of Galileo: “In condemning Galileo, the Holy Office acted sincerely, fearing that recognition of the Copernican revolution would threaten Catholic tradition. But it was a mistake, and it must be honestly admitted. Today we know that Galileo was right in defending the Copernican theory, although the debate over his arguments continues to this day.”

Biography of Galileo

Galileo was born on February 15, 1564 in Pisa (a city near Florence) in the family of a well-born but impoverished nobleman, Vincenzo Galil, a music theorist and lutenist. Galileo's family was from Florence, belonging to its richest bourgeois families who ruled the city. One of Galileo’s great-great-grandfathers was even a “standard bearer of justice” (gofaloniere di giustizia), the head of the Florentine Republic, as well as a famous doctor and scientist.
In Pisa, Galileo Galilei graduated from the university, here his first scientific research took place, and here he took the chair of mathematics at the age of 25.
When Galileo lived in Padua (1592-1610), he entered into an unmarried marriage with the Venetian Marina Gamba and became the father of a son and two daughters. Later, in 1619, Galileo officially legitimized his son. Both daughters ended their lives in a monastery, where they went because, due to their illegitimacy, they could not count on a successful marriage and a good dowry.

In 1610, he moved to Florence to the Tuscan Duke Cosimo de' Medici II, who gave him a good salary as his adviser at court. This helps Galileo pay off the huge debts he had accumulated due to the marriage of his two sisters.

Galileo spent the last nine years of his life under the supervision of the Inquisition, which limited his scientific contacts and movements. He settled in Arcetri next to the convent where his daughters were, and was forbidden to visit other cities. Nevertheless, Galileo still studied scientific research. When he died on January 8, 1642, in the arms of his disciples Viviani and Torricelli, Pope Urban VIII prohibited a solemn funeral, and Cardinal Francesco Barberini (the pope's nephew) sent the following message to the papal nuncio in Florence: “His Holiness, in agreement with the Eminences I have indicated, has decided that You, with your usual skill, will be able to convey to the attention of the Duke that it is not good to build a mausoleum for the corpse of one who was punished by the tribunal of the Holy Inquisition and died while serving this punishment, for this would cause confusion good people and injure their confidence in his Highness's piety. But, if you still fail to dissuade the Grand Duke from such a plan, you will need to warn that the epitaph or inscription that will be on the monument should not contain such expressions that could affect the reputation of this tribunal. And you will need to give the same warning to the person who will read the funeral speech...”

Many years later, in 1737, Galileo was nevertheless buried in the tomb of Santa Croce next to Michelangelo, as was originally intended to be done.