Kayla Kerby

Calculus

11/22/02

Ellsworth High School

GALILEO GALILEI

Galileo Galilei is remembered by the scientific community as the man who fought to change the ideas of his peers and teachers during the late 16^th century and early 17^th century. Although Galileo is well known for the discovery of several scientific laws such as: the scientific method, the law of the simple pendulum, and numerous formulas that apply to physics, the most popular discovery by Galileo is his conclusion that objects, regardless or shape or size, fall at a constant rate. When Galileo began studying mathematics at the University of Pisa he immediately made several enemies because he was constantly trying to prove that some of the most common and widely accepted scientific theories of the time were incorrect. Galileo spent his entire life attempting to prove to people of his time that the environment that surrounded them was full of fascination.

Galileo grew up in the town of Pisa, Italy with his father who was a cloth dealer and his other six siblings. Since Galileo was the oldest of the seven children, his father encouraged Galileo to pursue a career in medicine instead of science because during the 16^th century the meager wages of a scientist could not provide for a family as well as a doctor’s salary could. So when Galileo attended the University of Pisa he began studying medicine; however, he soon discovered mathematics and realized that the study of mathematics interested him more than music or medicine ever had ( Posin 74). One of the very first ideas that Galileo published was the concept of the “scientific method”. Galileo believed that there was a way to scientifically figure problems out: first, experiment, then complete some more experiments that will help test out your theoretical ideas. He thought that if you couldn’t confirm your ideas with your experiments then you had better start over with a new idea. Galileo continued this sequence of steps until he reached a satisfactory and undeniable conclusion ( Posin 74 ). Thus, the brief outline of the current scientific theory was established by Galileo, the man who was supposed to study medicine in college.

During the first year at the University of Pisa Galileo discovered what is known today as the “Law of the Simple Pendulum” one day while he attended mass at the Cathedral of Pisa. Galileo observed that the lamp and hanging from the ceiling would swing back and forth in the same amount of time regardless of the distance that the lamp traveled (Bixby 12). Galileo was fascinated by this revolutionary idea, and he continued to study his hypothesis in his room late at night. Finally, after many hours of studying the pendulum, Galileo decided to use his idea to make a little bit of money. He created a timing device that he could sell to doctors around Pisa. It was a simple pendulum that doctors could use to coincide with a patient’s pulse and the device allowed doctors to note the progress of the patient by seeing if the patient’s pulse changed day by day or hour by hour (Bixby 12). Even today Galileo’s idea is used by scientists and doctors alike.

Soon after Galileo’s formation of the simple pendulum theory and the scientific method, he began studying the motion of free falling objects. Galileo believed, contrary to the writings of Aristotle that objects in free-fall fell at a constant rate no matter what the size or shape of the objects were. Before Galileo, Aristotle taught that the weight of an object determined the rate at which it fell, but Galileo and other scientists knew that this theory was flawed. However, Galileo was the only man who contradicted the teachings of Aristotle during the 16^th century. In his famous “Leaning Tower of Pisa Experiment” Galileo proved that a one pound object and a ten pound object the strike the ground in the same instant. This law of free falling objects still holds true today, and it is the basis for the study of physics.

Despite Galileo’s fascination with the physical world, he also enjoyed studying astronomy. The most well known astronomical idea developed by Galileo was his discovery of sun spots on the surface of the sun. However, Galileo did more than just look at the sun spots, he followed them, recorded them, and used them to show his peers that the sun revolved around its axis in twenty-seven days (Wilson). During Galileo’s lifetime, many scientists studied the sun spots, but Galileo was the only one who used his ideas and discoveries to develop theories ( Wilson). But Galileo made more enemies after he published his findings. Galileo never let his enemies stand between him and his quest for the knowledge about the environment around him to

Several theorems and scientific laws are attributed to Galileo Galilei, but he did not receive the adequate appraisal from his peers during his lifetime. Galileo was considered an outcast during the 16^th and 17^th centuries, but today Galileo’s ideas are still being used. Galileo probably never imagined that people would take him seriously, but right now the scientists at NASA are using his ideas to build space craft that will explore the universe that he saw through his homemade telescope almost 400 years ago.