Biography
Galileo Galilei is the greatest thinker of the Renaissance, the founder of modern mechanics, physics and astronomy, a follower of the ideas of Copernicus, and the predecessor of Newton.
The future scientist was born in Italy, the city of Pisa on February 15, 1564. Father Vincenzo Galilei, who belonged to an impoverished family of aristocrats, played the lute and wrote treatises on music theory. Vincenzo was a member of the Florentine Camerata, whose members sought to revive the ancient Greek tragedy. The result of the activities of musicians, poets and singers was the creation of a new genre of opera at the turn of the 16th-17th centuries.
Portrait of Galileo Galilei
Mother Giulia Ammannati ran the household and raised four children: the eldest Galileo, Virginia, Livia and Michelangelo. The youngest son followed in his father's footsteps and subsequently became famous as a composer. When Galileo was 8 years old, the family moved to the capital of Tuscany, the city of Florence, where the Medici dynasty flourished, known for its patronage of artists, musicians, poets and scientists.
At an early age, Galileo was sent to school at the Benedictine monastery of Vallombrosa. The boy showed abilities in drawing, learning languages and exact sciences. From his father, Galileo inherited an ear for music and an ability for composition, but the young man was truly attracted only to science.
early years
The future great scientist was born in the city of Pisa on February 15, 1564 into an aristocratic family. However, it cannot be said that the family bathed in luxury - on the contrary, only one name remained from aristocracy. Galileo's father, Vincenzo, was a musician. Although the family was impoverished, some members of the Galileo family held prominent positions in the past. Thus, several ancestors were members of the Council of the Florentine Republic, and one of the ancestors was even elected head of the city.
Almost nothing is known about the boy's early years. When the child turned 8 years old, the family moved to Florence. This city was not chosen by chance; the Medici family always patronized scientists and cultural figures. Upon reaching 18 years of age, he entered the University of Pisa at the Faculty of Medicine. Then interest in mathematics awakens. She so absorbed the young student that the father was afraid that his son would abandon medicine. Already at that time, Galileo positioned himself as a fierce debater, defending his views to the bitter end, even if they ran counter to the authoritative opinion of scientists.
Unfortunately, Galileo was a student for only 3 years - the family’s money ran out, and the father could no longer pay for his son’s education. Galileo returns to Florence without a degree.
Studies
At the age of 17, Galileo went to Pisa to study medicine at the university. The young man, in addition to basic subjects and medical practice, became interested in attending math classes. The young man discovered the world of geometry and algebraic formulas, which influenced Galileo’s worldview. During the three years that the young man studied at the university, he thoroughly studied the works of ancient Greek thinkers and scientists, and also became acquainted with the heliocentric theory of Copernicus.
Galileo Galilei studies Copernican theory
After his three-year stay at the educational institution, Galileo was forced to return to Florence due to the lack of funds for further studies from his parents. The university management did not make concessions to the talented young man and did not give him the opportunity to complete the course and receive an academic degree. But Galileo already had an influential patron, the Marquis Guidobaldo del Monte, who admired Galileo's talents in the field of invention. The aristocrat petitioned the Tuscan Duke Ferdinand I de' Medici for his ward and secured a salary for the young man at the ruler's court.
Biography of Galileo Galilei
Galileo Galilei was born in Pisa to the impoverished but noble family of Vincenzo and Giulia Galilei in 1564, the eldest of six children. Since childhood, the future scientist showed abilities in the exact sciences, music, drawing and foreign languages. In 1572, the Galilean family moved to Florence, the world capital of culture, art and science at the time. From ten to seventeen years old, Galileo studied at the Benedictine monastery of Vallombrosa, and then entered the medical faculty of the University of Pisa. Already as a medical student, Galileo became interested in mathematics and changed departments. Due to the financial difficulties of his family, Galileo was unable to immediately obtain the title of professor and he left his studies. However, Galileo's talents were already known in the highest circles of society. The young scientist acquired a wealthy patron, the Marquis Guidobaldo del Monte, thanks to whom in 1592 Galileo received a position as a mathematics teacher at the University of Padua. Here he worked for 18 years and discoveries were made here that made the name of Galileo Galilei immortal.
In 1609, Galileo, using an ordinary telescope as a basis, increased its power up to 30 times and was the first in the world to use this device to study celestial bodies. The data obtained made a real revolution in science and interested the Tuscan Duke Cosimo de' Medici II. After all, Galileo now had direct evidence in favor of the correctness of the heliocentric theory of Copernicus, which contradicted the official position of the church. At the same time, Galileo himself considered himself an exemplary Christian; he viewed the Bible as a set of moral standards, full of allegories, but not as a scientific treatise. Faith, according to Galileo, did not in any way exclude empirical knowledge of the laws of nature. Therefore, the scientist presented his telescope and the results of his observations to Pope Paul V himself.
However, Galileo’s freethinking still resulted in unpleasant consequences for him. In 1615, the first trial of the scientist took place. But then the papal court was lenient, Galileo was not even called to testify, the commission of theologians only declared heliocentrism a false and heretical teaching and forbade anyone to speak in its support in the future. But Galileo did not give up trying to tell the world about his discoveries. In 1630, he published the work “Dialogue on the two most important systems of the world - Ptolemaic and Copernican.” In this work, Galileo described two systems, trying not to give them any assessments. However, an attentive reader could immediately determine which of the theories appealed to the scientist more and in favor of which of them the most reasonable and convincing arguments were given. In addition, the book was written not in learned Latin, but in Italian, understandable to the common people, which made it accessible to a wide range of readers. The Church immediately responded to the publication of this book, and Galileo again came to the attention of the Holy Inquisition. In 1633, the second trial of the natural scientist began.
To avoid torture and the fate of Giordano Bruno, who was burned at the inquisitorial stake in 1600, Galileo had to renounce his ideas. The court sentenced the scientist to lifelong house arrest at his Arcetri estate near Florence. There he died in 1642 from fever. Despite the harsh supervision of the Inquisition, during the years of arrest he managed to publish some works on physics and mechanics and pass on his knowledge to several students. Representatives of the Medici family, who supported the disgraced scientist, were still interested in the works of Galileo and his experiments. The Catholic Church recognized Galileo's views only in 1992, when Pope John Paul II publicly called the verdict against the scientist unjust and recognized the validity of the Copernican system.
Galileo Galilei was not officially married, but he had a common-law wife, whom he met in Padua - Marina Gamba. She bore Galileo two daughters and a son. Galileo recognized the latter as his official heir, and the girls, who remained legally illegitimate, had to spend their entire lives in a monastery.
University work
The Marquis del Monte helped the talented scientist get a teaching position at the University of Bologna. In addition to lectures, Galileo conducts fruitful scientific activities. The scientist studies issues of mechanics and mathematics. In 1689, the thinker returned to the University of Pisa for three years, but now as a teacher of mathematics. In 1692, he moved to the Venetian Republic, the city of Padua, for 18 years.
Combining teaching work at a local university with scientific experiments, Galileo publishes the books “On Motion” and “Mechanics”, where he refutes the ideas of Aristotle. During these same years, one of the important events took place - the scientist invents a telescope, which made it possible to observe the life of celestial bodies. The astronomer described the discoveries made by Galileo using a new instrument in his treatise “The Starry Messenger”.
Galileo Galilei teaching Viviani
Returning to Florence in 1610, under the care of the Tuscan Duke Cosimo de' Medici II, Galileo published the work Letters on Sunspots, which was critically received by the Catholic Church. At the beginning of the 17th century, the Inquisition acted on a large scale. And the followers of Copernicus were held in special regard by the zealots of the Christian faith.
In 1600, Giordano Bruno, who never renounced his own views, was already executed at the stake. Therefore, Catholics considered the works of Galileo Galilei provocative. The scientist himself considered himself an exemplary Catholic and did not see a contradiction between his works and the Christocentric picture of the world. The astronomer and mathematician considered the Bible to be a book promoting the salvation of the soul, and not at all a scientific educational treatise.
Galileo Galilei demonstrating a telescope to Pope Paul V
In 1611, Galileo went to Rome to demonstrate the telescope to Pope Paul V. The scientist carried out the presentation of the device as correctly as possible and even received the approval of the capital's astronomers. But the scientist’s request to make a final decision on the issue of the heliocentric system of the world decided his fate in the eyes of the Catholic Church. The papists declared Galileo a heretic, and the indictment process began in 1615. The concept of heliocentrism was officially declared false by the Roman Commission in 1616.
Florence and the charge of heresy
Since Galileo had little to do at court, he used his free time for research. He discovered the phases of Venus, spots on the Sun, after which he proved that the star rotates around its axis.
Galileo writes down all his discoveries in his characteristic, slightly incisive form, for which he was disliked as a student. Now his frivolity has more serious consequences: the fact that he defends the “free-thinking Copernicus”, which contradicts the scriptures, and criticizes the works of Ptolemy and Aristotle, did him no honor in the eyes of the Jesuits.
In 1611, Galileo was received by Pope Paul V, to whom he tried to prove that the church should keep pace with scientific discoveries, for which he even brought his telescope. At first everything seemed to go well, but then Galileo in a letter expressed himself about the Holy Scriptures, which, as he believed, were not authoritative for science, but only good for the salvation of the soul. He himself published the same letter. Two years later, his work “On Sunspots” was published, where he openly admitted that Copernicus was right.
At the beginning of 1615, the Inquisition opened a case against him, accusing him of heresy. A year later, the Vatican declared heliocentrism a dangerous heresy. Officially, Galileo was promised that nothing would threaten him if he stopped his absurd works and publicly extolled Copernicanism. Therefore, he returned to Florence and began to think about how to continue working so as to be safe. In the end, he decided to take a risk and publish the book he had been working on for 16 years.
But only in 1631, more than 30 years later, Galileo cunningly managed to bypass papal censorship and publish “Dialogue on the Two Chief Systems of the World.” So that more people could understand the book, it was published not in Latin, but in Italian.
Within a few months, the book was confiscated, and Galileo was summoned to Rome for a meeting of the Inquisition court. After three months of investigation, Galileo was faced with a choice: either abandon his thoughts or share the fate of Giordano Bruno. And Galileo refused.
He spent the rest of his life in the villa under constant supervision. Died at 78 years old. The Pope himself forbade him to be buried in the family crypt. Only in 1737 were his remains reburied in the Basilica of Santa Croce, next to Michelangelo.
Philosophy
The main postulate of Galileo's worldview is the recognition of the objectivity of the world, regardless of human subjective perception. The Universe is eternal and infinite, initiated by a divine first impulse. Nothing in space disappears without a trace, only a change in the form of matter occurs. The material world is based on the mechanical movement of particles, by studying which one can understand the laws of the universe. Therefore, scientific activity must be based on experience and sensory knowledge of the world. Nature, according to Galileo, is the true subject of philosophy, by comprehending which one can get closer to the truth and fundamental principle of all things.
Philosopher Galileo Galilei
Galileo was an adherent of two methods of natural science - experimental and deductive. Using the first method, the scientist sought to prove hypotheses, the second involved a consistent movement from one experience to another, in order to achieve completeness of knowledge. In his work, the thinker relied primarily on the teachings of Archimedes. While criticizing Aristotle's views, Galileo did not reject the analytical method used by the ancient philosopher.
Astronomy
Thanks to the telescope invented in 1609, which was created using a convex lens and a concave eyepiece, Galileo began observing the celestial bodies. But the threefold magnification of the first instrument was not enough for the scientist to carry out full-fledged experiments, and soon the astronomer created a telescope with a 32x magnification of objects.
Galileo Galilei's inventions: telescope and first compass
The first luminary that Galileo studied in detail using the new instrument was the Moon. The scientist discovered many mountains and craters on the surface of the Earth's satellite. The first discovery confirmed that the Earth is no different in physical properties from other celestial bodies. This was the first refutation of Aristotle’s assertion about the difference between earthly and heavenly natures.
Galileo Galilei made the first map of the Moon
The second major discovery in the field of astronomy concerned the discovery of four satellites of Jupiter, which in the 20th century was confirmed by numerous space photographs. Thus, he refuted the arguments of Copernicus’s opponents that if the Moon revolves around the Earth, then the Earth cannot revolve around the Sun. Galileo, due to the imperfections of the first telescopes, was unable to establish the rotation period of these satellites. The final proof of the rotation of Jupiter's moons was put forward 70 years later by the astronomer Cassini.
Galileo Galilei discovered four moons of Jupiter
Galileo discovered the presence of sunspots, which he observed for a long time. Having studied the star, Galileo concluded that the Sun rotates around its own axis. Observing Venus and Mercury, the astronomer determined that the orbits of the planets are closer to the Sun than the Earth's. Galileo discovered the rings of Saturn and even described the planet Neptune, but he was unable to fully advance these discoveries due to imperfect technology. Observing the stars of the Milky Way through a telescope, the scientist became convinced of their immense number.
Galileo Galilei discovered sunspots
Experimentally and empirically, Galileo proves that the Earth rotates not only around the Sun, but also around its own axis, which further strengthened the astronomer in the correctness of the Copernican hypothesis. In Rome, after a hospitable reception at the Vatican, Galileo became a member of the Accademia dei Lincei, which was founded by Prince Cesi.
Mechanics
The basis of the physical process in nature, according to Galileo, is mechanical movement. The scientist viewed the Universe as a complex mechanism consisting of the simplest causes. Therefore, mechanics became the cornerstone of Galileo's scientific work. Galileo made many discoveries in the field of mechanics itself, and also determined the directions of future discoveries in physics.
Galileo formulated the law of inertia
The scientist was the first to establish the law of fall and confirm it empirically. Galileo discovered the physical formula for the flight of a body moving at an angle to a horizontal surface. The parabolic motion of a thrown object was important for the calculation of artillery tables.
Galileo formulated the law of inertia, which became the fundamental axiom of mechanics. Another discovery was the substantiation of the principle of relativity for classical mechanics, as well as the calculation of the formula for oscillation of pendulums. Based on this latest research, the first pendulum clock was invented in 1657 by the physicist Huygens.
Galileo was the first to pay attention to the resistance of material, which gave impetus to the development of independent science. The scientist’s reasoning subsequently formed the basis of the laws of physics on the conservation of energy in a gravitational field and the moment of force.
Mechanics and mathematics
Galileo saw mechanical motion as the basis of physical processes in nature. He made a lot of discoveries in the field of mechanics, and also laid the foundation for further discoveries in physics.
Galileo was the first to establish the law of fall, proving it experimentally. He presented a physical formula for the flight of an object flying at an angle to a horizontal surface.
The parabolic motion of a thrown body played a large role in the development of artillery tables.
Galileo formulated the law of inertia, which became the basic axiom of mechanics. He was able to determine the pattern of oscillation of pendulums, which led to the invention of the first pendulum clock.
The mechanic showed interest in the resistance properties of materials, which later led to the creation of a separate science. Galileo's ideas formed the basis of physical laws. In statistics, he became the author of a fundamental concept - moment of force.
In mathematical reasoning, Galileo was close to the idea of probability theory. He outlined his views in detail in a work entitled “Discourses on the Game of Dice.”
The man derived a well-known mathematical paradox about natural numbers and their squares. His calculations played an important role in the development of set theory and their classification.
Conflict with the Church
After 1616, a turning point in Galileo’s scientific biography, he was forced into the shadows. The scientist was afraid to express his own ideas explicitly, so the only book Galileo published after Copernicus was declared a heretic was the 1623 work “The Assayer.” After the change of power in the Vatican, Galileo perked up; he believed that the new Pope Urban VIII would be more favorable to Copernican ideas than his predecessor.
Galileo Galilei before the Inquisition
But after the polemical treatise “Dialogue on the Two Main Systems of the World” appeared in print in 1632, the Inquisition again initiated proceedings against the scientist. The story with the accusation repeated itself, but this time it ended much worse for Galileo.
Clashes with the Church
Polish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus (1473–1543) was the first astronomer to propose that the Earth and other planets revolve around the Sun. There was little controversy, but when Galileo repeated the theory in 1632 in his book Dialogue Concerning the Two World Systems, the Roman Catholic Church considered it a direct challenge to the biblical creation story, which stated that the Earth was located at the center of the universe.
Galileo had been warned earlier that he could write about Copernicus's theory, but not insist that it was correct. So, in 1633, the scientist was summoned to Rome to appear before the Inquisition on charges of heresy. An institution created by the Pope to investigate dangerous teachings. Galileo was threatened with torture, forced to say that he was wrong, and sentenced to house arrest for the rest of his life.
Personal life
While living in Padua, young Gallileo met a citizen of the Venetian Republic, Marina Gamba, who became the scientist’s common-law wife. Three children were born into Galileo's family - son Vincenzo and daughters Virginia and Livia. Since the children were born outside of marriage, the girls subsequently had to become nuns. At the age of 55, Galileo managed to legitimize only his son, so the young man was able to marry and give his father a grandson, who later, like his aunt, became a monk.
Galileo Galilei was outlawed
After the Inquisition outlawed Galileo, he moved to a villa in Arcetri, which was located not far from the daughters' monastery. Therefore, quite often Galileo could see his favorite, eldest daughter Virginia, until her death in 1634. The younger Livia did not visit her father due to illness.
Youth
On February 15, 1564, in the Italian town of Pisa, a boy appeared in a family of impoverished aristocrats who was destined to become a great explorer.
At first he attended school at the monastery. Galileo grew up as a capable child who showed talents in various fields of activity: drawing, foreign languages, music, but gave his preference to science.
At the age of 17 he entered the university, where he studied medicine. Galileo also liked mathematical classes: while attending them, he became interested in geometry and algebraic formulas, and also became acquainted with the scientific works of Copernicus, which later influenced his life. Thanks to his patron, the Marquis Guidobaldo del Monte, Galileo began teaching at the University of Bologna and receiving a salary.
Death
As a result of a short-term imprisonment in 1633, Galileo renounced the idea of heliocentrism and was placed under permanent arrest. The scientist was placed under home protection in the city of Arcetri with restrictions on communication. Galileo stayed in the Tuscan villa until the last days of his life. The genius's heart stopped on January 8, 1642. At the time of death, two students were next to the scientist - Viviani and Torricelli. During the 30s, it was possible to publish the last works of the thinker - “Dialogues” and “Conversations and Mathematical Proofs Concerning Two New Branches of Science” in Protestant Holland.
Tomb of Galileo Galilei
After his death, Catholics forbade burying Galileo's ashes in the crypt of the Basilica of Santa Croce, where the scientist wanted to rest. Justice triumphed in 1737. From now on, Galileo's tomb is located next to Michelangelo. Another 20 years later, the church rehabilitated the idea of heliocentrism. Galileo had to wait much longer for his acquittal. The error of the Inquisition was only recognized in 1992 by Pope John Paul II.
Interesting Facts
- In 1758, Pope Benedict XIV ordered the works that defended helio to be expunged; however, this work was carried out slowly and was completed only in 1835.
- From 1979 to 1981, on the initiative of Pope John Paul II, a commission worked to rehabilitate Galileo, and on October 31, 1992, Pope John Paul II officially admitted that the Inquisition in 1633 made a mistake by forcefully forcing the scientist to renounce the Copernican theory.
- Galileo is rightfully considered the founder of not only experimental, but, to a large extent, theoretical physics.
- Regarding the philosophy of nature, Galileo was a convinced rationalist. He believed that the laws of nature are comprehensible to the human mind.
