Understanding of the universe: Galileo Flashcards
Life and influences:
Who was he?
A mathematician and astronomer.
1564-1642 - a contemporary of Kepler.
Life and influences:
Who did he cite as an influence in his letter to Kepler?
He was indebted to Copernicus, whom he agreed with on many fronts.
Life and influences:
What did Galileo see his work as?
The natural inheritance of Aristotle and Ptolemy.
Life and influences:
Was his method new?
Not really.
He combined maths with experiments and observations but his communication is what set him apart.
Early Controversy:
What did he believe was essential in understanding the Earth’s motion?
Tidal motions.
He believed that the Earth spun on an axis, rotating around the Sun, rejecting Brahe’s ideas.
This was deeply criticised by the Catholic Church who remained suspicious of him for the next couple of decades.
Early Controversy:
Whom did he attack in his “The Assayer” (1623)?
He attacked mathematical astronomers for he believed in the importance of observation.
However, he did little to convince these thinkers to question the work of Copernicus and Brahe.
Early Controversy:
What happened to his books?
They were added to the Prohibited List by the Catholics.
His “Dialogue Concerning Two Chief World Systems” undermined the Church-sponsored Aristotelian system.
Early Controversy:
What happened when his books were removed from the Prohibited Liat?
The ban on printing was lifted in 1718 (apart from on the Dialogue).
They were all removed from the list in 1758, however, the Dialogue was still subject to censorship.
Publication of the “Dialogue”:
When was it published and what was it?
1632.
He saw himself as the heir to Aristotle and Copernicus, agreeing with Aristotle’s logical approach and the Copernican heliocentric view.
He compared the Ptolemaic system with the Copernican system.
Structure of the “Dialogue”:
Who were the conversation characters?
Salviati: Defended Copernicus and attacked Aristotle’s belief that the universe is unchanging. A mouthpiece for Galileo.
Simplicio: Defended Ptolemy’s view that the Earth does not move.
Sagredo: A neutral non-philosopher.
Structure of the “Dialogue”:
What was the issue with Copernicus’ theory of the Earth moving?
It went against the Aristotelian idea that to be in perpetual motion, something must be pushing it.
Thus, Galileo rejected Aristotle (pissed off the Church).
Structure of the “Dialogue”:
How did Galileo try and rectify the issue with the Copernican theory of motion?
He claimed that if a ball was set in motion on an endless and frictionless incline, then the ball would remain in constant motion.
He ignored Kepler’s elliptical theory as it did not fit with this.
Structure of the “Dialogue”:
What, of Aristotle’s, did Galileo try and build upon?
His inadequate theories of motion.
He got close to a modern understanding of gravity but fumbled it.
The impact of Galileo:
How did he defy the church?
He rejected them as an authority over scientific matters - it is only through observation and reflection that one can yield the truth.
Further, the Inquisition told him not to write a defence of copernicus, yet he did anyway.
The impact of Galileo:
What made his work more accessible?
It was written in Italian and translated into other European languages.
