Who is Galileo Galilei summary. Brief biography of Galileo Galilei

Galileo Galilei was born on February 15, 1564 in Pisa to the musician Vincenzo Galilei and Giulia Ammannati. In 1572 he moved with his family to Florence. In 1581 he began to study medicine at the University of Pisa. One of Galileo's teachers, Ostilio Ricci, supported the young man in his passion for mathematics and physics, which affected future fate scientist.

Galileo was unable to graduate from the university due to his father's financial difficulties and was forced to return to Florence, where he continued to study science. In 1586, he completed work on the treatise "Little Scales", in which (following Archimedes) he described the device he invented for hydrostatic weighing, and in the next work he gave a number of theorems regarding the center of gravity of paraboloids of revolution. Assessing the growth of the scientist's reputation, the Florentine Academy chose him as an arbitrator in a dispute about how the topography of Dante's Hell (1588) should be interpreted from a mathematical point of view. Thanks to the assistance of his friend the Marquis Guidobaldo del Monte, Galileo received an honorary but meagerly paid position as professor of mathematics at the University of Pisa.

Father's death in 1591 and extreme constraint financial situation forced Galileo to look for a new job. In 1592 he received the chair of mathematics in Padua (in the possession of the Venetian Republic). After spending eighteen years here, Galileo Galilei made the discovery of the quadratic dependence of the fall path on time, established the parabolic trajectory of the projectile, and also made many other equally important discoveries.

In 1609, Galileo Galilei, modeled on the first Dutch telescopes, made his own telescope, capable of creating a threefold zoom, and then designed a telescope with a thirtyfold zoom, magnifying one thousand times. Galileo was the first person to point a telescope at the sky; what was seen there meant a genuine revolution in the concept of space: the Moon turned out to be covered with mountains and hollows (previously the surface of the Moon was considered smooth), Milky Way- consisting of stars (according to Aristotle - this is a fiery evaporation like a comet tail), Jupiter - surrounded by four satellites (their rotation around Jupiter was an obvious analogy to the rotation of the planets around the Sun). Galileo later added to these observations the discovery of the phases of Venus and sunspots. He published the results in a book that was published in 1610 under the title The Starry Herald. The book brought Galileo European fame. The well-known mathematician and astronomer Johannes Kepler enthusiastically responded to it, the monarchs and the higher clergy showed great interest in the discoveries of Galileo. With their help, he received a new, more honorable and secure position - the post of court mathematician of the Grand Duke of Tuscany. In 1611, Galileo visited Rome, where he was admitted to the scientific "Academy dei Lincei".

In 1613, he published a work on sunspots, in which he spoke for the first time quite definitely in favor of the heliocentric theory of Copernicus.

However proclaim it in Italy early XVII century meant to repeat the fate of Giordano Bruno, who was burned at the stake. The central point of the controversy that arose was the question of how to combine facts proven by science with contradictory passages from Holy Scripture. Galileo believed that in such cases the biblical story should be understood allegorically. The church attacked the theory of Copernicus, whose book On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres (1543), more than half a century after its publication, was on the list of banned publications. A decree to this effect appeared in March 1616, and a month earlier, the chief theologian of the Vatican, Cardinal Bellarmine, suggested to Galileo that he no longer defend Copernicanism. In 1623, Galileo's friend and patron Maffeo Barberini became pope under the name of Urban VIII. Then the scientist published his new job- "Assay Master", where nature is considered physical reality and methods of its study. It was here that the famous saying of the scientist appeared: "The Book of Nature is written in the language of mathematics."

In 1632, Galileo's book "Dialogue on the Two Systems of the World, Ptolemaic and Copernican" was published, which was soon banned by the Inquisition, and the scientist himself was summoned to Rome, where he was awaited by the court. In 1633, the scientist was sentenced to life imprisonment, which was replaced by house arrest, last years he spent his life without a break in his estate Arcetri near Florence. The circumstances of the case are still unclear. Galileo was accused not just of defending the theory of Copernicus (such an accusation is legally untenable, since the book passed papal censorship), but of violating an earlier ban from 1616 "not to discuss" this theory in any form.

In 1638, Galileo published in Holland, in the Elsevier publishing house, his new book"Conversations and Mathematical Proofs", where in a more mathematical and academic form he expressed his thoughts on the laws of mechanics, and the range of problems considered was very wide - from statics and resistance of materials to the laws of motion of a pendulum and the laws of fall. Until his death, Galileo did not stop active creative activity: tried to use the pendulum as the main element of the clock mechanism (followed by Christian Huygens soon), a few months before he became completely blind, he discovered the vibration of the moon, and, already completely blind, dictated the last thoughts regarding the theory of impact to his students - Vincenzo Viviani and Evangelista Torricelli.

In addition to his great discoveries in astronomy and physics, Galileo went down in history as the creator of modern method experimentation. His idea was that in order to study a particular phenomenon, we must create some ideal world (he called it al mondo di carta - "the world on paper"), in which this phenomenon would be maximally freed from extraneous influences. This ideal world is further the object mathematical description, and his conclusions are compared with the results of an experiment in which the conditions are as close to ideal as possible.

Galileo died at Arcetri on January 8, 1642, after a debilitating fever. In his will, he asked to be buried in the family tomb in the Basilica of Santa Croce (Florence), but due to fears of opposition from the church, this was not done. The last will of the scientist was fulfilled only in 1737, his ashes were transported from Arcetri to Florence and buried with honors in the church of Santa Croce next to Michelangelo.

In 1758 Catholic Church lifted the ban on most works supporting the theory of Copernicus, and in 1835 excluded the work "On the rotation of the heavenly spheres" from the index of banned books. In 1992, Pope John Paul II officially acknowledged that the church had made a mistake by condemning Galileo in 1633.

Galileo Galilei had three children born out of wedlock to the Venetian Marina Gamba. Only the son of Vincenzo, who later became a musician, was recognized by the astronomer as his own in 1619. His daughters, Virginia and Livia, were sent to a convent.

The material was prepared on the basis of information from open sources

Page:

Galileo Galilei (Italian: Galileo Galilei; February 15, 1564 - January 8, 1642) was an Italian philosopher, physicist and astronomer who significant influence to the science of his time. Galileo is mainly known for his observations of the planets and stars, his active support of the heliocentric system of the world, and his experiments in mechanics.

Galileo was born in 1564 in Pisa, Italy. At the age of 18, on the instructions of his father, he entered the University of Pisa to study medicine. While at the university, Galileo Galilei became interested in mathematics and physics. Soon he was forced to leave the university for financial reasons and began to study mechanics on his own. In 1589, Galileo returned to the University of Pisa on an invitation to teach mathematics. He later moved to the University of Padua where he taught geometry, mechanics and astronomy. At that time, he began to make significant scientific discoveries.

Everyone can speak confusedly, few can speak clearly.

Galileo Galilei

In 1609, Galileo Galilei independently built his first telescope with a convex lens and a concave eyepiece. The tube gave approximately a threefold increase. Soon he managed to build a telescope giving a magnification of 32 times. Observations through a telescope showed that the Moon was covered with mountains and pitted with craters, the stars lost their apparent size, and for the first time their colossal distance was comprehended, Jupiter found its own moons - four satellites, the Milky Way broke up into separate stars, a huge number of new stars became visible. Galileo discovers the phases of Venus, sunspots and the rotation of the Sun.

Based on observations of the sky, Galileo concluded that the heliocentric system of the world proposed by N. Copernicus is correct. This was at odds with the literal reading of Psalms 93 and 104, as well as the verse from Ecclesiastes 1:5, which speaks of the stillness of the earth. Galileo was summoned to Rome and demanded to stop promoting his views, to which he was forced to comply.

In 1632, the book "Dialogue on the two main systems of the world - Ptolemaic and Copernican" was published. The book is written in the form of a dialogue between two supporters of Copernicus and one supporter of Aristotle and Ptolemy. Despite the fact that the publication of the book was allowed by Pope Urban VIII, a friend of Galileo, a few months later the sale of the book was banned, and Galileo was summoned to Rome for trial, where he arrived in February 1633. The investigation dragged on from April 21 to June 21, 1633, and on June 22 Galileo had to pronounce the text of the abdication offered to him. In the last years of his life he had to work in the most difficult conditions. At his Villa Arcertri (Florence) he was under house arrest (under the constant supervision of the Inquisition) and was not allowed to visit the city (Rome). In 1634, Galileo's beloved daughter, who had cared for him, died.

Galileo Galilei died on January 8, 1642, he was buried in Archertri, without honors and tombstone. Only in 1737 was it performed last will- his ashes were transferred to the monastic chapel of the Cathedral of Santa Croce in Florence, where on March 17 he was solemnly buried next to Michelangelo.

From 1979 to 1981, at the initiative of Pope John Paul II, a commission for the rehabilitation of Galileo Galilei worked, and on October 31, 1992, Pope John Paul II officially recognized that the Inquisition had made a mistake in 1633, forcing the scientist to renounce the theory of Copernicus by force.

I prefer to find one truth, even in insignificant things, than to argue for a long time about the greatest questions, without reaching any truth.

He receives a very good musical education. When he was ten years old, his family moved to native city his father, Florence, and then Galileo was sent to school in a Benedictine monastery. There, for four years, he studied the usual medieval disciplines with the scholastics.

Vincenzo Galilei chooses the honorable and lucrative profession of a doctor for his son. In 1581, the seventeen-year-old Galileo was enrolled as a student at the University of Piraeus at the Faculty of Medicine and Philosophy. But the state medical science at the time filled him with discontent and pushed him away from his medical career. At that time, he accidentally attended a lecture on mathematics by Ostilo Ricci, a friend of his family, and was amazed at the logic and beauty of Euclid's geometry.

He immediately studied the works of Euclid and Archimedes. His stay at the university becomes more and more unbearable. After spending four years there, Galileo left it shortly before completion and returned to Florence. There he continued his studies under Ritchie, who appreciated the extraordinary abilities of the young Galileo. In addition to purely mathematical questions, he got acquainted with technical achievements. He studies ancient philosophers and modern writers and a short time acquires the knowledge of a serious scientist.

Discoveries of Galileo Galilei

Law of pendulum motion

Studying in Pisa with his observability and sharp mind, he discovers the law of motion of the pendulum (the period depends only on the length, not on the amplitude or weight of the pendulum). Later, he proposes the design of a device with a pendulum for measuring at regular intervals. In 1586 Galileo completed his first solo study of hydrostatic equilibrium and built new type hydrostatic balance. The next year he wrote a purely geometric work, "Theorems of a rigid body".

Galileo's first treatises were not published, but are rapidly spreading and coming to the fore. In 1588, commissioned by the Florentine Academy, he delivered two lectures on the shape, position, and extent of Dante's Hell. They are filled with the theorems of mechanics and numerous geometric proofs, they are used as a pretext for the development of geography and ideas for the whole world. In 1589 Grand Duke Tuscany appointed Galileo a professor at the Faculty of Mathematics at the University of Pisa.

In Pisa, the young scientist again encounters educational medieval science. Galileo must learn the geocentric system of Ptolemy, which, along with the philosophy of Aristotle, adapted to the needs of the church, is recognized. He does not communicate with his colleagues, argues with them, and at first doubts many of Aristotle's statements about physics.

The first scientific experiment in physics

According to him, the movement of the Earth's bodies is divided into "natural", when they tend to their "natural places" (for example, downward movement for heavy bodies and "ascending" movement) and "violent". The movement stops when the cause disappears. "Perfect celestial bodies" is a perpetual movement in perfect circles around the center of the Earth (and the center of the world). To refute Aristotle's assertion that bodies fall at a speed proportional to their weights, Galileo makes his famous experiments with bodies falling from a leaning tower at Pisa.

This is actually the first scientific experiment in physics and with it Galileo introduces a new method of acquiring knowledge - from experience and observation. The result of these studies is the treatise "The Fall of Bodies", which sets out the main conclusion about the independence of speed from the weight of a falling body. It is written in a new style for scientific literature - in the form of a dialogue, which reveals the main conclusion about the speed, which does not depend on the weight of the falling body.

The lack of a scientific base and low pay force Galie to leave the University of Pisa before the expiration of the three-year contract. At that time, after the death of his father, he must take over the family. Galileo is invited to take up the chair of mathematics at the University of Padua. The University of Padua was one of the oldest in Europe and was known for its spirit of freedom of thought and independence from the clergy. Here Galileo worked and quickly earned a name as an excellent physicist and a very good engineer. In 1593, his first two works were completed, as well as "Mechanics", in which he outlined his views on the theory of simple machines, invented proportions with which it is easy to perform various geometric operations - drawing enlargement, etc. His patents for hydraulic equipment also preserved.
In the lectures of Galileo at the university, official views are voiced, he teaches geometry, Ptolemy's geocentric system and Aristotle's physics.

Acquaintance with the teachings of Copernicus

At the same time, at home, among friends and students, he talks about various problems and sets out his own new views. This duality of life, Galileo is forced to lead long time until he becomes persuasive in his ideas in the public space. It is believed that even in Pisa, Galileo became acquainted with the teachings of Copernicus. In Padua, he is already a convinced supporter of the heliocentric system and has as his main goal collection of evidence in this favor. In a letter to Kepler in 1597, he wrote:

“Many years ago I turned to the ideas of Copernicus and with my theory I was able to fully explain a number of phenomena that, in general, could not be explained by opposing theories. I have come up with many arguments that refute opposing ideas.”

Galilean tube

At the end of 1608, news reaches Galileo that an optical device has been discovered in the Netherlands that allows you to see distant objects. Galileo, after working hard and processing hundreds of pieces of optical glass, built his first telescope with a magnification of three times. This is a system of lenses (eyepieces), now called the Galilean tube. His third 32x telescope looks at the sky.

Only after a few months of observation did he publish his amazing findings in a book:
The moon is not perfectly spherical and smooth, its surface is covered with hills and depressions, similar to the Earth.
The Milky Way is a collection of numerous stars.
The planet Jupiter has four satellites that circle around it like the Moon around the Earth.

Despite the fact that the book is allowed to be printed, this book actually contains a serious blow to Christian dogmas - the principle of the difference between "imperfect" earthly bodies and "perfect, eternal and unchanging" celestial bodies has been destroyed.

The motion of Jupiter's moons has been used as an argument in favor of the Copernican system. The first bold astronomical achievements of Galileo do not attract the attention of the Inquisition, on the contrary, they brought him great popularity and influence as a renowned scientist throughout Italy, including among the clergy.

In 1610, Galileo was appointed "the first mathematician and philosopher" in the court of the ruler of Tuscany and his former student, Cosimo II de' Medici. He leaves the University of Padua after 18 years of residence there and moves to Florence, where he is released from any academic work and can only do their own research.

The discovery of the phases of Venus, the observation of the ring of Saturn and sunspots were soon added to the arguments in favor of the Copernican system. He visited Rome, where he was greeted by the cardinals and the pope. Galileo hopes that logical perfection and experimental justification new science make the church recognize it. In 1612, his important work Reflection on Floating Bodies was published. In it, he provides new evidence for the law of Archimedes and opposes many aspects of scholastic philosophy, asserting the right of reason not to obey the authorities. In 1613 he wrote a treatise on sunspots in Italian with great literary talent. At that time, he also almost discovered the rotation of the Sun.

Prohibition of the teachings of Copernicus

As Galileo and his disciples were already under attack, he feels compelled to speak and write his famous letter to Castelli. He proclaimed the independence of science from theology and the uselessness of Scripture in the research of scientists: “... in mathematical disputes, it seems to me that the Bible belongs to last place". But the spread of opinions about the heliocentric system seriously disturbed theologians, and in March 1616, with the decree of the Holy Congregation, the teachings of Copernicus were banned.

Many years of silence begin for the entire active milieu of Copernican supporters. But the system becomes apparent only when, in 1610-1616. main weapon against geocentric system were astronomical discoveries. Now Galileo strikes at the very foundations of the old, unscientific worldview, influencing the deepest physical roots of the world. The struggle resumed with the appearance in 1624 of two works, including "Letter to Ingoli". In this work, Galileo expounds the principle of relativity. The traditional argument against the motion of the Earth is discussed, namely that if the Earth were rotating, a stone thrown from a tower would lag behind the surface of the Earth.

Dialogue on the two main systems of the world - Ptolemy and Copernicus

In subsequent years, Galileo was immersed in work on the main book, which reflected the results of his 30 years of research and reflection, the experience gained in applied mechanics and astronomy, and his general philosophical views of the world. In 1630, an extensive manuscript entitled "Dialogue on the two main systems of the world - Ptolemy and Copernicus" was completed.

The exposition of the book was built in the form of a conversation between three people: Salviatti, staunch supporter Copernicus and new philosophy; Sagredo, who is a wise man and agrees with all of Salviatti's arguments, but is initially neutral; and Simplicchio, defender of the traditional Aristotelian concept. The names Salviatti and Sagredo were two friends of Galileo, and Simplicio was in honor of the famous commentator on Aristotle of the 6th century Simplicius, and in Italian it means "simple".

Dialogue gives insight into almost all scientific discoveries Galileo, as well as his understanding of nature and the possibilities of studying it. He stands on materialistic positions; believes that the world exists independently of human consciousness and introduces new methods of research - observation, experience, thought experiment and quantitative mathematical analysis instead of offensive arguments and references to authority and dogma.

Galileo considers the world to be unified and changeable, without dividing it into "eternal" and "variable" substances; denies absolute motion around a fixed center of the world: “Can I reasonably ask you if there is any center of the world at all, because neither you nor anyone else has proven that the world is finite and has certain form, not infinite and unlimited. Galileo made great efforts to get his work published. He makes a number of compromises and writes to readers that he does not adhere to the teachings of Copernicus and provides a hypothetical possibility that does not correspond to reality and must be rejected.

The prohibition of "Dialogue"

For two years he collected permission from the highest spiritual authorities and the censors of the Inquisition, and at the beginning of 1632 the book went out of print. But very soon there is a strong reaction from theologians. The Roman pontiff was convinced that he was depicted under the image of Simplicio. A special commission of theologians was appointed, which declared the work heretical, and the seventy-year-old Galileo was summoned to trial in Rome. The process initiated by the Inquisition against him lasts a year and a half and ends with a verdict according to which the "Dialogue" is prohibited.

Renunciation of one's views

On June 22, 1633, in front of all the cardinals and members of the Inquisition, Galileo reads the text of the renunciation of his views. This event allegedly speaks of the complete suppression of his resistance, but in fact this is the next big compromise that he must make in order to continue his scientific work. The legendary phrase: "Eppur si muove" (and yet it spins) is justified by his life and work after the process. It is said that he uttered this phrase after the renunciation, however, in fact this fact is fiction 18th century.

Galileo is under house arrest near Florence, and, despite almost losing his sight, he is working hard on a new great work. The manuscript was smuggled out of Italy by her admirers, and in 1638 it was printed in the Netherlands under the title Lectures and Mathematical Proofs of Two New Sciences.

Lectures and mathematical proofs of two new sciences

Lectures are the pinnacle of Galileo's work. They were written again as a conversation for six days between three interlocutors - Salviati, Sagredo and Simplicchio. As before, Salvati plays a leading role. Simplicio no longer argued, but asked questions only for more detailed explanations.

On the first, third and fourth days, the theory of the movement of falling and thrown bodies is revealed. The second day is dedicated to the topic of materials and geometric balance. The fifth lecture contains mathematical theorems, and the last contains incomplete results and ideas about the theory of resistance. He has smallest value among six. With regard to material resistance, Galileo's work is pioneering in this area and plays an important role.

The most valuable results are contained in the first, third and fifth lectures. This highest point, which Galileo achieved in his understanding of motion. Considering the fall of bodies, he sums up:

"I think that if the resistance of the medium were completely removed, all bodies would fall at the same speed."

The theory of uniform rectilinear and equilibrium motion is further developed. The results of his numerous experiments on free fall, motion on inclined plane and the motion of a body thrown at an angle to the horizon. The time dependence is clearly formulated and the parabolic trajectory is investigated. Again, the principle of inertia has been proven and is used as fundamental in all considerations.

When the Lectures go out of print, Galileo is completely blind. But in the last years of his life he works. In 1636 he proposed a method exact definition longitudes at sea using the satellites of Jupiter. His dream is to organize numerous astronomical observations from different points earth's surface. To this end, he negotiates with the Dutch Commission for the adoption of his method, but is refused and the church forbids his further contacts. In their last letters to his followers he continues to make important astronomical considerations.

Galileo Galilei died on January 8, 1642, surrounded by his students Viviani and Toricelli, his son and representative of the Inquisition. Only 95 years later, his ashes were allowed to be transported to Florence, two other great sons of Italy, Michelangelo and Dante. His resourceful scientific work, passing through the strict criteria of time, gives him immortality among the names of the most brilliant artists of physics and astronomy.

Galileo Galilei - biography of life and his discoveries

review 7 rating 4.4


> > Galileo Galilei

Biography of Galileo Galilei (1564-1642)

short biography:

Education:University of Pisa

Place of Birth: Pisa, Duchy of Florence

A place of death: Arcetri, Grand Duchy of Tuscany

- Italian astronomer, physicist, philosopher: biography with photo, main discoveries and ideas that he invented, the first telescope, the satellites of Jupiter, Copernicus.

Galileo Galilei has often been called the first modern physicist. Biography Galileo Galilei began on February 15 in 1564 in the Italian city of Pisa. His father was an accomplished scientist, and he instilled in Galileo his love of science. His father motivated him to study medicine, and he eventually entered the University of Pisa. IN short time Galileo's interests soon turned to mathematics and natural philosophy. He left the university without getting a degree. Later, in 1592, he was appointed professor of mathematics at the University of Padua (University of the Venetian Republic), where he stayed until 1610. His main duties were to teach Euclid's geometry and standard (geocentric) astronomy to medical students who needed to know a little about astronomy in order to use astrology in their medical practice. During this time, Galileo Galilei's astronomical ideas became highly unconventional. No state will recognize this belief for many years.

In the summer of 1609, Galileo Galilei heard about a spyglass that a Dutchman was representing in Venice. Using these reports and his technical knowledge, he created his telescopes, which were far superior in performance to the Dutch instrument. With these instruments, he viewed the moon, and was the first person to observe mountain ranges, seas and other features. He observed Saturn and its rings, which he described as "ears", the four largest moons of Jupiter, which are now called the satellites of Galileo in his honor. His observations were later published in a work entitled "The Starry Herald" ("Messenger of the Stars"), written by him in 1610. It caused a sensation upon publication. While Galileo is remembered for his work on free fall, his use of the telescope, and his experiments, he is perhaps more famous for his controversial views in natural law than for his actual contributions to science. He believed that the Sun, not the Earth, was at the center of the universe. This belief is comparable to how Copernicus was at odds with the Roman Catholic Church, which adhered to geocentric views. His work was later included in the "Vatican List" of rejected works. They have only recently been removed from the list.

Because of these beliefs, Galileo Galilei received an unspoken and official warning from the church in 1616. She stated that he should have abandoned the views of Copernicus. In 1622, Galileo wrote The Laboratory Chemist (Assayer), which was approved and published in 1623. In the year 1632 he published his Dialogue in Florence on the two chief systems of the world. In October 1632, he was summoned to the Holy Office (Inquisition) at Rome. The court passed judgment condemning him. He was also required to take an oath before the Holy Roman Church, in which he was forced to renounce his belief that the Sun was the center solar system. He was sent into exile in Siena and finally, in December 1633, he was allowed to retire to his villa in Arcetri, Gioiello. His health steadily deteriorated, and in 1638 he became completely blind. Galileo Galilei died at Arcetri on the eighth day of January, one thousand six hundred and forty-two. For years after his death, his discoveries and work were not recognized as the groundbreaking achievements they were.

Physicist and mechanic Galileo Galilei truly was a star of the first magnitude in the scientific firmament.

Galileo was an ardent supporter of the heliocentric system of the world, and his scientific honesty almost brought the famous astronomer to the stake.

short biography

Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) was born in Pisa (Italy) into a noble but impoverished family. His father Vincenzo Galilei was a musician and composer, but art did not provide a livelihood, and he had to deal with the cloth trade.

Until the age of eleven, Galileo lived in Pisa and studied at, and then moved with his family to Florence. Here he continued his education in a Benedictine monastery, and at the age of seventeen he entered the University of Pisa to eventually become a doctor.

However, due to poverty, he had to interrupt his studies and return to Florence. There Galileo took up the study of mathematics and physics.

In 1586, he wrote his first scientific paper, and three years later he headed the department at the University of Pisa, where he taught mathematics and astronomy.

It was then that they performed the famous experiments when Galileo threw various items from the inclined Leaning Tower of Pisa to check whether light bodies fall faster than heavy ones, as Aristotle claimed.

Aristotle's opinion was refuted, but this caused dissatisfaction among the university professors, and the scientist had to move to the department of mathematics in Padua.

"Star Messenger"

This was the most fruitful period in Galilee. From 1606 he took up astronomy in depth.

With the help of a telescope he built with a magnification of 32 times, Galileo discovered on the moon mountain ranges, and peaks, and this led him to think that the Moon is similar to, which again contradicted Aristotle, who claimed that the Earth is a very special celestial body.

At the same time, Galileo established that the Sun rotates around its axis and concluded that rotation around the axis is characteristic of all celestial bodies, and the heliocentric system of the world proposed by Copernicus is the only correct one.

In March 1610, his work entitled "The Starry Herald" was published, which brought European fame to the scientist. The Duke of Tuscany Cosimo II Medici offered Galileo to take the position of court mathematician, and the scientist accepted this offer.

However, six years later, eleven prominent theologians examined the teachings of Copernicus and came to the conclusion that it was false. It was declared heretical, and Copernicus' book On the Revolution of the Celestial Spheres was banned.

Galileo was summoned from Florence to Rome and demanded to stop spreading heretical ideas about the structure of the world. The scientist, despite the intercession of the patron duke, was forced to obey.

Court and sentence

And yet, in 1632, Galileo's book "Dialogue on the two main systems of the world - and Copernican" was published.

The church immediately placed a ban on her, and the astronomer himself was summoned to Rome for trial in the court of the Inquisition. The investigation went on for several years.

On June 22, 1633, in the same church where the death sentence of Giordano Bruno was announced, Galileo, on his knees, pronounced the text of the renunciation offered to him.

However, this was not the end of the matter. The remaining years of his life he had to work in the most difficult conditions, in fact, in prison and under the constant supervision of the Inquisition, although his own villa in the town of Arcetri served as a prison.

In two years, Galileo wrote one of his most profound works, Conversations and Mathematical Proofs, in which he laid out the foundations of dynamics. The book was published in Holland, but reached Arcetri only three years later, when Galileo became completely blind and could only feel his latest offspring.

The trial of the scientist was "demonstrative". He made it clear to all freethinkers that even such a luminary as Galileo was forced to bow before church dogmas and authorities.

Galileo died on January 8, 1642, and in 1992, Pope John Paul II officially recognized that the Inquisition in 1633 made a mistake by forcing the scientist to renounce the theory of Copernicus, and rehabilitated Galileo.



What else to read