Galileo Galilei: The Savior Of Modern Physics

Galileo Galilei, known as the pioneer scientist of modern physics and astronomy, was one of the most important figures of the early modern period in Europe. Born in a relatively wealthy and powerful family, he had every requirement for a good intellectual career. Even though he was famous for his contributions to the modern physics, he had major troubles with the church at that time. The roman catholic church of the 17th century did not tolerate any type of scientific “heresy” that would contradict their opinion astrology and physics. Proven to be a stubborn man, he rejected the ideals of the church, and satirically criticized them in his famous book, Dialogue on the Two Great World Systems. Also, he had the courage to advocate the Copernican solar system model, which cast away the Ptolemaic model that stated the earth was the center of the universe. This bold move by him proved that he was indeed the martyr of truth.

When he first observed the planetary system with a special telescope he developed, he discovered more than three planets and their moons, and was later appointed by Cosimo de Medici to be the “Chief Philosopher” of the Medici dynasty. Even though his ideas and theories were widely acclaimed, the position that he was appointed and his demeaning behavior made him vulnerable to both the church and other nobles, as the state of Florence was in decline. Naturally, his bold statement of “earth being round and moving”, angered Roman Catholic Church, and made them accept his statements merely as a “hypothesis”. Church also stated that the truth of all thing was held only by God, and humanity could not grasp the greatness of things (scientifically). Thus, when he mocked those who supported the earth-centered” view with Simplicio, who was an idiotic figure, the church then decided Galileo was committing heresy. He was put on a trial, and was forced to renounce his claim of a moving earth. Even though he admitted that he committed heresy, he never stopped believing what is right, which is the moving earth theory. Thereby, when he was sentenced to a house arrest, he simply said “eppur si muove”, which means “and yet it moves. ”

Galileo also perfected Aristotle's works on motion and “heavens. ” Aristotle, who was a famous Greek philosopher, was famous for his Aristotelian school of thought. His notion was to find the “true purpose” of things, as well as scientific phenomenons. Teleology, as it was called, influenced many scientists and scholars in that era. He saw nature as the supreme order of things, and thought that humanity could uncover it by observation and assortment. Despite the fact that Galileo was fascinated and naturally influenced by Aristotle's observations, he actually took Plato more serious. Plato's theory of a world beyond the individuals' senses and reach (which consisted of various dimensions of geometry) also helped him understand how nature works. Nevertheless, when he combined these two conflicting theories, he found both to be misleading and insufficient. As he experimented about why heavy objects gain more speed than lighter objects when falling in the air, he used methods that involved time-measuring and changing the slope of the platform in order to compare the speed of the object. This approach was indeed different than Aristotelian observation, as Galileo not only observed the speed of the object, but also used mathematical observations to measure the different possibilities that would change his notion. This method is the reason why it was more successful than Aristotelian nature observation method which the scientist had to depend on nature solely, and naturally miss the crucial information. Even though nature was impossible to grasp, the Galilean method of experimentation had the ability to “organize time and make it possible to observe. ” Thereby, it is safe to assume that Galileo's experimentation method is more valid than Aristotelian observation method.

All in all, as stated in this essay, Galileo Galilei was one of the most important scientists in world history. Because of his methods and discoveries, scientists like Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein discovered the most crucial physics theories. His stand against the church and its dogmas made him a martyr of truth, and experimentation methods made it possible to grasp the world and its phenomenon.