Kaleb King

PHYS 1040

April 7, 2020

Galileo Galilei

Biography

Galileo Galilei, the “father of observational astronomy”(source wiki) has always

intrigued my attention. He was a great man with many observations that changed the way of

thinking for astronomy. I have chosen to write my essay about this wonderful man. I have chosen

him because of his grand discoveries that changed the ways of thinking. He discovered many

new things in our galaxy that have now opened new doors to more discoveries. I have always

adored him. I remember learning about him when I was young. From that point on he has always

been my favorite astronomer and scientist.

Galileo Galilei was born in Pisa Italy on February 15, 1564. His family moved to

Florence Italy in 1572 where he studied for the priesthood. He soon left that idea and enrolled for

a medical degree at the University of Pisa. He didn't finish his degree. Instead, he switched to

study mathematics. He later was appointed to the chair of mathematics in Pisa. Galileo was

starting to show how intelligent he was. He then was offered a better position of mathematician

at the University of Padua. There, he met Marina Gamba and with her had three children. During

this time he started to work with the telescope.

He published ​The Starry Messenger ​in 1610, then accepted a position as a non-teaching

math mathematician at the University of Pisa. In 1611 he became a member of the Academia dei

Lincei, one of the first scientific societies. He then published a ​Discourse on Floating Bodies​,
and ​Letters on the sunspots.​ He expressed his position in favor of Copernicus. He published

many more books about his work, one of which caused him a lifetime sentence of imprisonment.

He later died in 1642.(Stanford.edu)

Discoveries and Accomplishments

Galileo did many things in his lifetime. He discovered things in this galaxy that have

helped astronomy move forward with the times. His observations made way for new ways of

thinking and also backed up past theories from other astronomers. These discoveries are

important even for modern astronomy.

To start off, Galileo created the telescope that was formally the spyglass. He created the

telescope using his mathematics knowledge and technical skills. He was the first person to ever

see the moon through a telescope and make a discovery. He noticed that the moon wasn’t smooth

as they thought it was, it was actually mountainous and pitted(NASA).

With his newly made telescope he was able to discover some other wondrous things of

the galaxy. Galileo, with his newly made telescope, started pointing it everywhere in the sky.

One night, he noticed, near Jupiter, four faint stars. He decided to observe them more closely. He

soon discovered that these stars were actually Jupiter’s moons. These moons were called the

Medicean Stars, but now they are referred to as the Galilean moons of Jupiter. This discovery

helped him notice that these moons followed Kepler’s Law. This helped him think about how

maybe the planets orbited the Sun and not the other way around where the Sun orbited the earth.

It was said in an article, “​if moons could orbit a planet, then perhaps it was true that the Earth

orbited the Sun after all”(Koberlein, 2016).​ This was amazing! Galileo started changing the ways

of thinking that we now know as facts.

 Galileo wasn’t done with his observations. He also discovered something

spectacular about the planet Venus. He started observing that it was showing different phases

than what was said to have. He continued to observe and come to the conclusion that Venus was

orbiting the Earth that was taught and declared. He started to see that Venus was orbiting the

Sun, which could only mean that the Earth was doing the same exact thing. How amazing. He

started to side towards those who believed in the heliocentric system that Copernicus proposed

long before Galileo(Catalogue.museogalileo.it). Galileo started to become more and more on the

side of Copernicus as the years of observation and discovery went on.

Galileo was also observing other planets in the solar system. With his 20 powered

telescope, Galileo discovered something interesting about Saturn. He thought at first, that Saturn

had strange things next to it. Later he found out that it was a giant ring around the entire planet.

This discovery helped other astronomers in the future figure out more things about the planet’s

rings. Galileo’s curiosity really helped astronomy grow and become what it is today.

In the end of his discoveries, Galileo was now at the same conclusion as Copernicus,

which was that the Sun, not the Earth, was the center of the Universe. Galileo then published a

book that defended the heliocentric theory. Galileo added upon what was already made clear by

Copernicus. Galileo had better evidence compared to Copernicus. His book wasn’t too popular at

that moment of time for one big reason. Religion. The Catholic church had the viewpoint that

Earth was the center and the Sun orbited it(Coreknowledge.org). He was later put on trial and he

had to deny his findings and claim them not true. He still believed in what he had discovered. It

is sad that religion interviened with scientific discoveries, but that was the time. Galileo was then

imprisoned and then he died.

 Galileo's work has left a big mark in our history of mankind. He has forged new ways of

thinking and new discoveries and is important in our history. He solidified the heliocentric

theory with evidence. His discoveries of the moons on Jupiter and the rotation of Venus and its

phases are key things that have changed the way we see the universe. I am in awe with the

wisdom and character of Galileo. He has become a legend in the astronomy world.
 Bibliography

“Copernicus and Galileo: Scientific Questioning”

https://www.coreknowledge.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/CKHG-G5-U5-about-coper

nicus-and-galileo.pdf

Koberlein, Brian. “Galileo’s Discovery of Jupiter’s Moons, And How It Changed The World”.

2016.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/briankoberlein/2016/01/07/galileos-discovery-of-jupiters-m

oons-and-how-it-changed-the-world/#441ec94c46f0

Museo Galileo.​In Depth:Phases of Venus.

https://catalogue.museogalileo.it/indepth/PhasesVenus.html

NASA. “Galileo Galilei”.

https://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/whos_who_level2/galileo.html

Stanford Univeristy. “Galileo Galilei”.​https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/galileo/#Bib​ 2005.