Life of Galileo
LIFE OF GALILEO
Galileo Galilei was deemed the "Father of Science" by Albert Einstein. Others call him the "Father of Astronomy" or the "Father of Physics."
The life of Galileo Galilei began in Pisa, Italy. He was born on the very day Michelangelo died in 1564; the same year that saw the birth of William Shakespeare. As a boy, Galileo constructed mechanical toys. When he was eight years old, his family moved to Florence. His father was a famous musician, composer, and music theorist. Galileo became a skilled musician and painter.
Galileo Galilei studied Thomas Aquinas and Aristotle in college and at first wanted to be a monk. He later decided that mathematics was his field of interest.
GALILEO GALILEI
Galileo became the professor of mathematics at Padua University in 1595. At that time, this was one of the greatest universities in the world. Galileo was very happy teaching at Padua. The university perfectly fit his style of questioning everything. Eventually, his lectures became so popular that he had to deliver them in a 2,000 seat hall. Galileo tutored for wealthy families to supplement his income.
Galileo first became famous when he proved that all objects fall at the same rate regardless of their weight, which he demonstrated by dropping various objects off the Leaning Tower of Pisa. He also invented the geometric compass and a thermometer.
HANS LIPPERSHEY
Hans Lippershey (1570-1619), an obscure Dutch spectacle maker, invented the spyglass in 1608, which made distant objects appear thrice the size. Two children played with his spectacle lenses; put two of them together; and noticed the church weathervane nearby was wonderfully magnified when they looked through them. Hans Lippershey took a look, and soon produced the first spyglass.
The spyglass had an obvious military application, and was immediately snapped up by Prince Maurice of Nassau, a brilliant military commander for the Netherlands. By 1635, the spyglass was being used to direct artillery in battle.
A friend of Hans Lippershey, also a spectacle maker (and counterfeiter), named Zacharias Jansen, invented the compound microscope in 1609. Giovanni Faber coined the term "microscope," which means "it permits a view of minute things."
GALILEO'S TELESCOPE
In 1609 Galileo heard about a new invention, the telescope (the word means "to see far"). He proceeded to build telescopes himself that were far more powerful, reaching 30 times magnification, by combining the technologies of German steel and Venetian glass.
Galileo wrote: "We are certain the first inventor of the telescope was a simple spectacle-maker who, handling by chance different forms of glasses, looked, also by chance, through two of them, one convex and the other concave, held at different distances from the eye; saw and noted the unexpected result; and thus found the instrument."
Regular folks were reluctant to believe what one sees through a telescope; they thought it must be some kind of trick. Galileo astonished the leading men of Venice when he demonstrated that through his telescope they could see from Venice to Padua 35 miles away. Galileo soon turned his telescope toward the heavens.
Galileo used his telescope to see sunspots; craters and mountains on the moon; and moons orbiting Saturn and Jupiter. Galileo was most astonished to see that, through his telescope, there were an infinite number of stars in God's heavens.
Galileo also used his telescope as a microscope. He reported in 1614 "With this tube I have seen flies which look as big as lambs, and have learned that they are covered over with hair and have very pointed nails by means of which they keep themselves up and walk on glass, although hanging feet upwards, by inserting the point of their nails in the pores of glass."
GALILEO AND THE CHURCH
Galileo was a devout Catholic. He stated that "Both the Holy Scriptures and nature proceed from the Divine Word." Pope Urban VIII was pleased with him, admired him, and welcomed his discoveries. Urban publicly praised Galileo and gave him many fine gifts.
Galileo also made many enemies among the influential Jesuits because of his naturally belligerent temperament. He alienated Jesuit professors by publicly ridiculing them. Galileo was confrontational, rude, offensive, and disrespectful—he lacked tact.
The trouble between Galileo and the Church began when Galileo pronounced that the earth moves—when to people standing on earth it was obvious that it does not. Galileo confirmed the theories of Copernicus that the planets orbit the sun. This idea was condemned by the Roman Catholic Church.
The Inquisition instructed Galileo not to teach his ideas about the heliocentric nature of the solar system in 1615. The Church was essentially defending Aristotle and his belief that the earth is the center of the universe. While the Church was wrong that the earth stood still, it was correct that the earth is the center of the universe—the center of life in the universe and the centerpiece of God's creation. A look into the void that surrounds earth plainly shows us that truth. Sure, the Bible says the sun rises and sets. It plainly does every day.
The Roman Catholic Church was split about the concepts of Galileo; there were just as many in the Church on Galileo's side as were against him. And those against him were so in large part because the public was decidedly against his ideas. There were politicians in the church watching the polls, one could say.
Galileo was a victim of bad timing. The Roman Catholic Church was at war with Protestants, who severely damaged the authority of the Church during the Reformation. The Church was in no mood for further public challenges to its teachings. It wanted Galileo to confine his pronouncements to the scientific community. Instead, he published his discoveries in vernacular Italian so every literate person could read them.
Things came to a boil when Galileo published a book with a character named Simplico (stupid man) who appeared to be based on Pope Urban, hitherto his friend. The enemies he had made among the powerful Jesuits demanded action. The Jesuits held a long grudge against Galileo, and wanted an example made of him to dissuade others from daring to challenge Church authority.
In 1632, under threat of torture, Galileo agreed with the Church that the earth stood motionless and the sun revolved around it—though he knew better. In 1633, one of his books was condemned and he was placed under house arrest in his own villa for the rest of his days. Galileo was sad and depressed.
During his house arrest, Galileo's home was not guarded. In fact he received a flood of visitors, including Thomas Hobbes and John Milton. Galileo's books were banned in Italy for 100 years, and not published there for 200 years. The hours he spent peering through his telescope caused the blindness which blighted the last four years of his life. Galileo died in 1642.
In 1635, the Jesuits made a telescope as a gift to the Emperor of China. A scholar in his court immediately saw the military application and said: ". . . one can look at, from a distance, the place of the enemy, the encampments, the men, the horses, whether armed more or less . . . Nothing is more useful than this instrument." By 1638, the telescope had found its way to Japan.
OF CLOCKS AND NAVIGATION
Galileo's groundbreaking work with pendulums set in motion the radical improvement of clocks. Within thirty years of his death, the average error of the best timepieces was reduced from fifteen minutes to ten seconds per day. This made it possible for the first time to truly synchronize watches. And that made time a measure that transcended space.
The peculiarities of the earth made this magic possible. Because our planet turns on its axis, every place on earth experiences a 24-hour day within a 360-degree turn. Therefore, in one hour it turns 15 degrees.
On land people get their bearings by landmarks, such as mountains, rivers, roads, towns, and buildings. Even today the Global Positioning System (GPS) uses your proximity to signs on streets (as landmarks) to pinpoint your location.
But the sea is a vast emptiness and sameness on the surface. This drove sailors to get their bearings from skymarks—the sun, moon, stars, and constellations. Astronomy was the handmaiden of the sailor. It is no wonder that the Age of Columbus ushered in the Age of Copernicus. To explore the oceans, a sailor had to know the heavens. The New World lay undiscovered for so long primarily because it was far more difficult to determine your east-west location (longitude) than north-south location (latitude). The problem of longitude was not solved until 1773 (by the clockmaker from England, John Harrison).
SOURCES
My sources for this article include The Discoverers by Daniel Boorstin; Galileo by Paul Hightower; Europe by Norman Davies; From Dawn to Decadence by Jacques Barzun; and The One Year Book of Christian History by E. Michael and Sharon Rusten.
Comments
Another great article James. I am wiser or at least more knowledgable because of you
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Natalia F— You ask an interesting question. What I found was a generic statement that "it soon found its way around Europe." If you have more specific information, please share it with us.
Thank you for visiting my Hub. I appreciate your comments.
Maybe you guys should explain maybe what was the first place that the telescope that Hans Lippershey invented got exported to?
That wouldn't be bad to know..
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stars439— I wish Galileo had helped me with my Algebra too, my brother. :D
Thank you ever much for coming by to see me. I appreciate your comments. God Bless You!
He sure had a brilliant mind for math. I wish I would have had his help in my Algebra. Wonderful hub. God Bless You Precious Brother.
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no body— Well, you can't beat the Word of God for wisdom and instruction. It takes faith to believe in anything. Here we are streaking through space at 60,000 miles an hour and we think we are standing still. What a machine God hath made! The Universe. In time and space.
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itakins— I know! That song was going through my brain too. I truly appreciate your compliments. Thank you very much for reading and commenting.
It's always amazing to me how our perceptions fool us. We will stand on the certainty of what we see is "common sense" and then someone finds that what we saw as un-debatable is in fact fallacy. That is why I draw as much as I can from the word of God. I know that to be infallible even though it may seem far fetched to my common sense. Who in those days of old would have thought with their common sense that the earth is a ball on which we are all standing upside down and sideways and not falling off? But the obsurdity of Scripture is smarter than any man. I choose to cling to the Word because it is the smartest safest sense of all.
James
That great song by Queen is now going through my brain.As always a brilliantly informative hub.I often think ,one of the the real marks of good writing is, the reader leaves wanting to know even more-and you James have that gift in spades.
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ama83— People are strange. Thank you for visiting and commenting. I appreciate your support. :)
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Ingenira— Thank you! Thank you very much. :D
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v_kahleranderson— Hello, VKA. You are welcome. I was never considered a nerd either, dear. I am well pleased at your response to this Hub. Thank you for the blessings, hugs, and love.
James
Very nice hub, a good history lesson for me today. It is a shame that Galileo had such trouble with the church. It seems so strange that Galileo's ideas would be thought of as blasphemous even though his theory of the earth moving was not against the Bible. How odd we people can be sometimes.
Good effort and great piece of work.
Hello Mr. Watkins,
Another very interesting and educational hub. So thank you for another history lesson. :)
I guess it can be said that Galileo was considered a "nerd" for his time - I have no doubt. All the smart kids always seemed to be labeled as such. And I would have never been considered a "nerd." Lol!
Good stuff here, James.
God bless you, today and always. Love and hugs,
VKA
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FloBe— I am glad you enjoyed this Hub, and I appreciate you letting me know. As you say, Galileo did have tenacity to beat the band. Thank you for your excellent remarks.
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Hello, hello,— I am well pleased to receive your affirmation. Thank you for reading my Hub and leaving your warm words.
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CheyenneAutumn— Welcome to Hubpages! I sincerely appreciate your comments. It is good to remember such great men. You are welcome. :)
I thoroughly enjoyed this Hub, James. While he may not have had the greatest tact in dealing with people, one would have to have nerves of steel to continue pursuing avenues of thought and invention so opposed by people in power. His tenacity has benefited us all!
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fred allen— Thank you! Yes, everything changes and yet things remain the same. Solomon said "There is nothing new under the same." I surely appreciate your acute insights.
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Petra Vlah— You are most welcome and thank you for the Latin. I had to look it up and I see it is what Galileo whispered under his breath after his recantation. Brilliant!
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De Greek— You are quite welcome, kind sir. Thank you for taking the time to read my piece and leave your nice note.
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lone77star— Thank you very much for the constructive criticism. I don't have time today but within the next few days I rewrite these pieces to add a bit of polish and sizzle. It is kind of you to point out the deficiency relative to my other works. I appreciate it. :)
Well done, James, a great tribute and account of the life of Galileo. Well done.
Very nice piece the trials he faced to advance what he Knew even though he faced the wrath of the powers that be at the time -- thank you for posting his story least we ever forget and let those voices be silenced even today... Great job!
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skye2day— Hello! Thank you for your gracious compliments about my writing. Yes, God is amazing.
You are welcome. Congratulations on the new baby! I can't wait to read your new Hub. Thank you for the love and the hugs, Grandma. :-)
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Judicastro— Thank you very much for your gracious laudations, my dear. I'm feeling pretty good right about now. :D
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GusTheRedneck— Thank you, Gus. I appreciate you saying so.
James
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Allan McGregor— It is always an honor to hear from you, the most wise sage of Hub Pages. Your comments here are as astute as ever, brother. I nod and nod and nod. I especially liked the way you put this:
"This has since been misrepresented as a dispute between 'rational' science and 'irrational' religion, when it was actually between scientist and scientist"
Quite succinct. Thank you for coming by to read my work. I appreciate you my friend.
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Tom Whitworth— Thank you for sharing Tom "Galileo" Whitworth. You are a good man. I enjoy your words.
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drbj— You always find a fresh angle. I hadn't thought of Peeping Toms. :D
Thank you for the lovely accolades. I am encouraged by your words.
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Fullerman5000— Thank you! Science is not my forte. I was researching to write about 17th century Christendom, as part of a series in which I started in the year zero, and these men of science were too compelling not to write about.
Fascinating! Looking into the past has always been interesting to me. It intrigues me to see how through the ages,men have asked the same questions and how differring views on the answers caused such great conflict. Not much has changed as far as that goes.
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aware— I am glad you like my choice of subjects. I am excited about the James Webb Telescope. Lord knows, the Hubble has been fantastic—after it was fixed. I wrote a Hub about the Hubble.
I had to look up your Latin phrase, Ray. Very good. Thank you for your fine comments.
James
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BDazzler— Thank you for your excellent comments. Yes, I agree with your remarks. It was largely political. It is painted today that the Church was against science, when in fact the Church was a great patron and supporter of science. There was much intrigue then and always.
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Joni Douglas— I sincerely appreciate the laudations, my dear. I am grateful for your words. Thank you for reading my work. :)
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Partisan Patriot— I agree with you that the 17th century was full of incredible men who were not only brilliant but also men of deep faith in God. They considered themselves enlightened by the Holy Spirit. There will be four of these Hubs: Galileo, Pascal, the Invisible Society/Royal Society (including Newton), and finally a final Hub of a collection of other great men of science in this century. Thank you for your readership.
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joe w bennett— Thank you for your keen insights. You wrote:
"in 1992, Pope John Paul II issued what amounted to an apology for its actions against Galileo, and in 2008 commissioned a statue of the great man to be erected within the Vatican walls."
Yes, this is correct and well of you to point out. I appreciate the visit and your contributions to the conversation.
"Eppur si muove"; even as a wisper it was a loud affirmation that progress can not be stopped and personal revange can only silance science for so long.
Thank you James, another great hub
Wonderful, wonderful stuff, James. Thanks :-)
James, this is rich with wonderful details and facts, but this and the Vonnegut piece seemed thrown together. Your 16th century England, for instance, seemed a more polished piece. While this hub was an enjoyable read, it did not sizzle like some of your other work. And an awesome subject! Galileo is one of my favorites.
You're still at the top of my Hub reading list.
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sherrylou57— I'm glad you like this Hub. Thank you for saying so and you are welcome. :-)
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allpurposeguru— I enjoyed your witty comments. I haven't read his father's work. But maybe the apple didn't fall far from the tree.
Everything you wrote is insightful. Thank you for taking the time to read my article and for sharing your thoughts.
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Icbenefield— You are welcome. Thank you for your nice compliment. I am glad you enjoy my work.
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Rod Marsden— Thank you for posting your erudite remarks. Yes, Galileo had three illegitimate children, I believe. And you are correct about the daughter who was a nun, looked after him while under house arrest—and I think she was allowed to do his penance as well. You wrote:
"Recanting must have been bad but better than roasting."
I should say so! :D
"Well, at least the Vatican got around to saying sorry to Galileo. The man had been dead and buried for centuries when this happened but it was still an apology."
Yes, they did. I enjoyed reading your words about Galileo.
Hello James bro, I enjoyed your writing very much. It was very refreshing reading a history 'lesson' I learned a great deal. Amazing how GOD works and creates each one of us with different talents and skills. If only History class books were written this magnetic I may have listened up. Just kidding, at that age History was the least of my concerns.
Thank Yor for shariing. It was great stopping in for a visit. I have been offline for a time. I am a new grandma. I have been helping my daugher and son in law. It has been a great joy and Blessing, like no other. Hub is almost finished Hugs Galore bro Love ya.
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HSchneider— Thank you very much. I appreciate you sharing your keen observations with us. I surely enjoyed reading your words. They are very good.
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Merlin Fraser— Funny! I am glad to see some humor interjected here. I'm not big on pain. I suppose I'll have to remain in hiding.
Thanks for reading my article. I enjoyed your wit.
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Sufidreamer— What a pleasure to hear from you again, my friend. I am glad you have writing clients. I wish I did. Maybe someday. Thank you for coming by to visit and for your compliments.
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Gerry Hiles— You are welcome. Thank you for visiting and commenting.
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FLYSCO— Thank you for the affirmation. And I surely agree that Galileo's contributions are tremendous.
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prasetio30— I am honored by your words, my friend. I appreciate your kind comments and the "voted up." I am glad you enjoyed this Hub. I enjoy your Hubs very much. Thank you and you are welcome.
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"Quill"— Thank you, brother, for your gracious compliments. It is always a pleasure to hear from you. I appreciate the visit and your insights.
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carolina muscle— Thank you for your insightful comments, my friend. I appreciate this visitation. :)
James I am always amazed at how awesome your hubs are. Another great one!
James - Very nice article!
Gus :-)))
Nicely done, James.
Especially the explanation of Galileo's conflict with the Church. As you rightly say, he was a personal friend of Maffeo Barberini, who later became Pope Urban VIII who greatly admired his work until Galileo ridiculed him.
The Church was actually not antipathetic towards Galileo and, indeed, largely supportive of his new ideas. It was the Pope's personal antipathy that drove the Inquisition to persecute Galileo, provoked by his clumsily insulting 'Dialogo sopra i due massimi sistemi del mondo' (The Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems). Galileo calling the Pope a 'Simpleton' in 1632 was about as politically astute as Hilary Clinton calling Barak Obama a 'N*@@#r' today. It didn't go down well.
The Roman Church was then asked to choose which side to back in a dispute between two determined scientific factions.
This has since been misrepresented as a dispute between 'rational' science and 'irrational' religion, when it was actually between scientist and scientist, with the Roman Church tendentiously siding against Galileo for personal vindictive reasons.
James,
Thanks for the Hub on Galileo. He was a boyhood hero of mine and my friends called me Galileo because I had a telescope and star gazed.
This is a beautiful piece of work, James, written with clarity by way of in-depth research. Bravo.
Galileo may not have possessed superior interpersonal skills but no one can deny his intellect as a scientist. Besides, where would astronomers and peeping Toms be today without his invention of a more powerful telescope?
I never was a fan of Astronomy until i took a class in college to get a science credit. I fell in love with it. great hub
You always have subject matter that catches my eye.The new James Webb Telescope that will replace the Hubble will let us see even further.
The religious reactions then and now towards certain study's i think are unfounded and fear based. At least for me. No mater what happens no mater what is found. my idea and hope in god will never be shaken or dis proven. They will only serve to make them bigger. Spero in Dio.
ray
James, wasn't there a political issue as to who is patron was and his childhood relationship to Pope Urban that had as much to do with his visit from the inquisition as his actual theories?
Seems that my memory of the issue is that Galileo's work was more of a convenient tool for the political funding debates of the time that it was t truly theological disagreement.
As always, fantastic hub!
Great job James, as usual, well written and very informative. It is so cool that you can take a history lesson and make it fascinating.
James
It amazes me how many great minds populated this world during Galileo’s time; where are they today. You can’t tell me the best we had to choose from for president was Barrack Hussein Obama who is tied to a teleprompter without which he is nothing more than a babbling idiot and John please like me so call me a Maverick McCain!
Very nice James...thought your readers might like to know that in 1992, Pope John Paul II issued what amounted to an apology for its actions against Galileo, and in 2008 commissioned a statue of the great man to be erected within the Vatican walls. Not so sure about the Earth being the center of the universe/creation; we lack conclusive evidence to either confirm or deny existence of intelligent life elsewhere...I do accept that this planet it is the center of what we know...
Very insteresting, James. I like this hub Thank you.
Galileo Galilei must have gotten his people skills from his father, whose only published theory book is an ill-mannered diatribe against a highly respected former teacher. The dialogue was a respected form of scholarly writing long before Galileo ever thought of writing anything. I think Simplico or something like it must have been a fairly standard name for one of them. But as you pointed out, the driving force behind the Inquisition was neither religious nor scientific, but purely political and personal. Another great hub.
I learn a tremendous about from reading your hubs. Thanks.
Good hub.
I remember this documentary on Galileo and his illegitimate daughter. She joined a nunnery and during her father's house arrest looked after him by sending food and corresponding with him via letter.
Galileo thought he could get away with a dialogue between two fictional characters as a way of getting his ideas and beliefs out. He had also had previously been a friend of the pope as you have pointed out and thought that would work in his favor. I don't believe he intended Simplico to be thought of as the pope but just the accusation would have been enough for the pope to have to act against him. Actually if he hadn't been friends with the pope before Urban has become pope he might have ended up worse off than he did. Recanting must have been bad but better than roasting. Well, at least the Vatican got around to saying sorry to Galileo. The man had been dead and buried for centuries when this happened but it was still an apology.
Great history again James. Galileo discovered and created so much that has influenced the world thereafter. He was both a man of his times and before his time. We owe so much to him and several other multi-faceted geniuses of his Renaissance era.
On behalf of the Flat Earth Society I question why you are resurrecting the work of this man after so many years of peace and tranquillity.
For this you may expect a visit from our Inquisitors any day now. Hope you like pain, we will however get this nonsense stamped out once and for all.
Great Hub though !
Great work, James - I have been writing a series of articles about the history of science for a client, and I am just about to embark upon the Renaissance after passing through Mesopotamia, Greece, China and Baghdad!
There will be one on Galileo somewhere along the way, so this info will come in very useful (duly referenced, of course!)
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sord87— You are welcome. I enjoyed reading your comments. Thank you for visiting my Hub. :D
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cybersleuth— Thank you for the votes. I appreciate the visit and the compliments.
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kimballtrombone— Thank you. You are right, his brother was an excellent musician. And his father was one of the first to apply mathematics to music, which undoubtedly had a major influence on the worldview of Galileo. Excellent insights!
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t.elia— Thank you for being my first visitor! What do we have for the lady, Ed? :)
Thanks James.
Another very interesting hub. Galileo's contribution was tremendous.
You are still my favorite hubber, James. Consistently you still give useful information. I really enjoy read the history of Galileo as a father of invention and science. Thank you very much. Vote up as usual.
Blessing,
Hi James... yet another wonderful hub about much history of this great man. He contributed greatly to the world in so many ways and yet he did stand alone as a man who stood for what he knew was right.
Today we are very blessed by his work in so many areas of our lives, I have a new respect now as I take up my telescope and see far into the night skies.
Blessings
The Jesuit Order has a long history of devious tactics.. and they didn't mind using them on Galileo!
Great read, James.
A well written hub history as usual.I heard galileo galilei's name when i was in High School physics class on 1980's.No one could ever deny his science invention.Thanks for sharing!
Nice hub James... a very good read. A vote up 4 you. Take care!
Nice hub. Not only was his father a famous musician, but his younger brother Michelagnolo was a well-known musician as well. Something about being surrounded by good music must have been inspiring...
Thanks James found this to be a very interesting hub.
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