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| Sunday, 13 March 2005 |
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by Lionel Wijesiri Galileo Galilei was born in Pisa, Italy on February 15, 1564 and was the first of six children. His family belonged to the nobility but was not rich.
In 1581, Galileo began studying at the University of Pisa and at the age of 25, he was appointed professor of mathematics at the University. In 1592 he was appointed to the chair of mathematics at the University of Pada, in Venice, where he stayed until 1610. At this university he was exposed to a new theory, proposed by Nicolaus Copernicus, Polish astronomer, that the Earth and all the other planets revolved around the sun. By 1604, he began working on astronomy in order to lecture on a new star that had appeared. Galileo invented many mechanical devices but perhaps his most famous invention was the telescope. In 1609 Galileo learned of a 'spy glass' made by a Dutch eyeglass maker that magnified distant objects. From the barest description he constructed a vastly superior model. Galileo used his powerful 30X telescope to discover craters on the Moon, sunspots which rotated with the Sun, the four largest satellites of Jupiter, the ring of Saturn and phases of Venus. He reported that the Milky Way was a collection of stars. Venus fascinated him. When he noticed that the size of Venus was changing with the phases from a large crescent to a small full, he knew that the Copernican theory was right. Prior to the Copernican system, it was held that the universe was geocentric, meaning the sun revolved around the earth. Galileo's belief in the truth of the Copernican hypothesis alarmed the Church and thus began his conflict with the Catholic Church. One morning in 1613, at the breakfast table with Grand Duchess Christina, one of Galileo's students - Benedetto Castelli, who was also present, asked him to comment on the conflict between the Church and the heliocentric doctrine. The reply was the famous 'Letter to Grand Duchess Christina' which circulated widely in manuscript form at the time. In it, Galileo implicitly declared that the Bible teaches how to go to heaven, not how the heavens go. In February 1616, Galileo was called to Rome. The Catholic Church had a permanent institution known as 'The Inquisition' for eradication of heresy. After inspecting Galileo's letter and his statement, the Inquisition declared that (1) the immobility of the Sun at the centre of the universe was absurd in philosophy and formally heretical, and that (2) the mobility of Earth was absurd in philosophy and at least erroneous in theology. 'The Inquisition,' warned Galileo that he should not discuss or defend Copernican theories. Galileo's admonition stopped the Copernican movement dead in its tracks. For Galileo, the stern warning marked the beginning of a period of silence. He busied himself with such tasks as using tables of the moons of Jupiter to develop a chronometer for measuring longitude at sea. He endured his rheumatism, enjoyed the attention of his daughter, Maria Celeste, and adjusted to a world, which elevated mindless conformism over scientific understanding. In 1623, Galileo received some hopeful news: the newly elected Pope Urban VIII held a generally positive view of the arts and science. In the early years of his reign, Pope Urban VIII held long audiences with Galileo. Encouraged by a Pope who seemed open to renewed debate on the merits of the Copernican system (so long as the arguments fell short of purporting to be a definite refutation of the Earth-centred universe), Galileo began work on a book that would eventually prove his undoing, Dialogue Concerning The Two Chief World Systems. On December 24, 1629, Galileo told friends in Rome that he had completed work on his 500-page dialogue. Galileo then obtained conditional approval from the Secretary of the Vatican for the publication of the book. The dialogue has been described as "the story of the mind of Galileo." Unlike the works of Copernicus and Kepler, Galileo's Dialogue was a book for the educated public, not specialists. Although using the form of a debate among three Italian gentlemen, Galileo marshalled a variety of arguments to lead his readers to one inexorable conclusion: Copernicus was right. Soon after it was published, he was called to Rome once again to stand trial for "grave suspicion of heresy" because he had been told in 1615 not to discuss Copernicanism. Three physicians declared that Galileo was too ill to travel to Rome. 'The Inquisition' rejected the physician's statement and declared that if Galileo did not travel to Rome voluntarily he would be arrested and taken in chains. Galileo was found guilty of heresy for his dialogue and was sentenced to prison for an indefinite term. Seven of ten cardinals presiding at his trial signed the sentencing order. He was sent to his home near Florence where he was to be under house arrest for the remainder of his life. By January 1638, Galileo became totally blind. Although he petitioned the Inquisition to be freed, his petition was denied. In 1642, Galileo died at his home outside Florence. It was a sad end for so great a man to die condemned of heresy. On October 31, 1992, 350 years after Galileo's death, Pope John Paul II gave an address on behalf of the Catholic Church in which he admitted that errors had been made by the theological advisors in the case of Galileo. He declared the Galileo case, as far as Church was concerned, closed. |
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