Report on Galileo Galilei. School encyclopedia

Galileo Galileo (02/15/1564 – 01/08/1642) was an Italian physicist, astronomer, mathematician and philosopher who made a great contribution to the development of science. He discovered experimental physics, laid the foundations for the development of classical mechanics, and made major discoveries in astronomy.

Early years

Galileo, a native of the city of Pisa, had a noble origin, but his family was not rich. Galileo was the eldest child of four (a total of six children were born in the family, but two died). Since childhood, the boy was drawn to creativity: like his musician father, he was seriously interested in music, was an excellent drawer and understood issues visual arts. Had literary gift, which later allowed him to express his scientific research in his writings.

He was an outstanding student at the monastery school. He wanted to become a clergyman, but changed his mind due to the rejection of this idea by his father, who insisted that his son receive medical education. So at the age of 17, Galileo went to the University of Pisa, where, in addition to medicine, he studied geometry, which fascinated him greatly.

Already at this time, the young man was characterized by the desire to defend own position, without fear of established authoritative opinions. Constantly argued with teachers on science issues. I studied at the university for three years. It is assumed that at that time Galileo learned the teachings of Copernicus. He was forced to quit his studies when his father could no longer pay for it.

Thanks to the fact that the young man managed to make several inventions, he was noticed. The Marquis del Monte, who was very fond of science and had good capital, especially admired him. So Galileo found a patron, who also introduced him to the Duke of Medici and got him a professorship at the same university. This time Galileo focused on mathematics and mechanics. In 1590, he published his work - the treatise “On Movement”.

Professor in Venice

From 1592 to 1610, Galileo taught at the University of Padua, became the head of the mathematics department, and was famous in scientific circles. Most active work Galilee occurred at this time. He was very popular among students who dreamed of attending his classes. Famous scientists corresponded with him, and the authorities constantly set new technical tasks for Galileo. At the same time, the treatise “Mechanics” was published.

When discovered in 1604 new star, his scientific research fell on astronomy. In 1609, he assembled the first telescope, with the help of which he seriously advanced the development of astronomical science. Galileo described the surface of the Moon, the Milky Way, and discovered the satellites of Jupiter. His book The Starry Messenger, published in 1610, was a huge success and made the telescope a popular purchase in Europe. But along with recognition and veneration, the scientist is also accused of the illusory nature of his discoveries, as well as of his desire to harm the medical and astrological sciences.

Soon, Professor Galileo entered into an unofficial marriage with Marina Gamba, who bore him three children. Having responded to an offer of a high position in Florence from the Duke of Medici, he moves and becomes an adviser at court. This decision allowed Galileo to pay off large debts, but partly played a disastrous role in his fate.

Life in Florence

In a new place, the scientist continued his astronomical research. It was typical for him to present his discoveries in a cocky style, which greatly irritated other figures, as well as the Jesuits. This led to the formation of an anti-Galilean society. The main complaint from the church was the heliocentric system, which contradicts religious texts.

In 1611, the scientist went to Rome to meet with the head of the Catholic Church, where he was received quite warmly. There he introduced the telescope to the cardinals and tried, with caution, to give some explanations. Later, encouraged by a successful visit, he published his letter to the abbot stating that Scripture cannot have authority in matters of science, which attracted the attention of the Inquisition.

Galileo demonstrates the laws of gravity (fresco by D. Bezzoli, 1841)

His 1613 book “Letters on Sunspots” contained open support for the teachings of N. Copernicus. In 1615, the Inquisition opened its first case against Galileo. And after he called on the Pope to express his final view on Copernicanism, the situation only worsened. In 1616, the church declared heliocentrism a heresy and banned Galileo's book. Galileo's attempts to correct the situation led nowhere, but they promised not to persecute him if he stopped supporting the teachings of Copernicus. But for a scientist convinced of his rightness, this was impossible.

Nevertheless, for a while he decided to turn his energy in a different direction, taking up criticism of the teachings of Aristotle. The result was his book “The Assay Master,” written in 1623. At the same time, Galileo Barberini's longtime friend was elected Pope. Hoping to lift the ban on the church, the scientist went to Rome, where he was well received, but did not achieve what he wanted. Galileo further decided to continue to defend the truth in his writings, considering several scientific points of view from a position of neutrality. His "Dialogue Concerning the Two World Systems" lays the foundations for the new mechanics.

Galileo's conflict with the church

Having submitted his “Dialogue” to the Catholic censor in 1630, Galileo waited a year, after which he resorted to a trick: he wrote a preface about the rejection of Copernicanism as a teaching. As a result, permission was received. Published in 1632, the book did not contain the author's specific conclusions, although it clearly made sense in the argumentation of the Copernican system. The work was written in accessible Italian, the author also independently sent copies to the highest ministers of the church.

A few months later, the book was banned and Galileo was called to trial. He was arrested and held in captivity for 18 days. Thanks to the efforts of his student Duke, the scientist was shown leniency, although he was allegedly still tortured. The investigation lasted two months, after which Galileo was found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment, and he also had to renounce his own “delusions.” Became catchphrase“And yet it turns,” which is attributed to Galileo, he did not actually say. This legend was invented by the Italian literary figure D. Baretti.

Galileo before the Judgment (K. Bunty, 1857)

Old age

The scientist did not stay in prison for long; he was allowed to live on the Medici estate, and after five months he was allowed to return home, where he continued to be monitored. Galileo settled in Arcetri near the monastery where his daughters served, and spent last years under house arrest. Plunged a large number prohibitions that made it difficult for him to treat and communicate with friends. Later they were allowed to visit the scientist one at a time.

Despite the difficulties, Galileo continued to work in non-prohibited scientific directions. He published a book about mechanics, planned to anonymously publish a book in defense of his views, but did not have time. After the death of his beloved daughter, he became blind, but continued to work and wrote a work on kinematics, published in Holland and which became the basis for the research of Huygens and Newton.

Galileo died and was buried in Arcetri; the church prohibited burial in the family crypt and the erection of monuments to the scientist. His grandson, the last representative of the family, having become a monk, destroyed valuable manuscripts. In 1737, the remains of the scientist were transferred to the family tomb. It was only in the late 70s of the last century that the Catholic Church rehabilitated Galileo; in 1992, the mistake of the Inquisition was officially recognized.

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Galileo Galilei (Italian: Galileo Galilei; February 15, 1564 – January 8, 1642) was an Italian philosopher, physicist and astronomer who had a significant influence on the science of his time. Galileo is mainly known for his observations of 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, following 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. He was soon forced to leave the university for financial reasons and began independent research in mechanics. In 1589, Galileo returned to the University of Pisa at the 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, but 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 provided approximately threefold magnification. Soon he managed to build a telescope that gave a magnification of 32 times. Observations through a telescope showed that the Moon is covered with mountains and pitted with craters, the stars have lost their apparent size, and for the first time their colossal distance was comprehended; own moons- four satellites, Milky Way disintegrated into individual 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 was correct. This was at odds with the literal reading of Psalms 93 and 104, as well as the verse from Ecclesiastes 1:5, which talks about the immobility of the Earth. Galileo was summoned to Rome and demanded to stop promoting his views, to which he was forced to submit.

In 1632, the book “Dialogue about two major systems world - Ptolemaic and Copernican." The book is written in the form of a dialogue between two adherents of Copernicus and one adherent of Aristotle and Ptolemy. Despite the fact that the publication of the book was authorized 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 lasted from April 21 to June 21, 1633, and on June 22, Galileo had to pronounce the text of renunciation proposed to him. In the last years of his life he had to work in difficult conditions. At his villa Archertri (Florence) he was under house arrest (under constant surveillance by the Inquisition) and was not allowed to visit the city (Rome). In 1634, Galileo's beloved daughter, who was caring for him, died.

Galileo Galilei died on January 8, 1642, and was buried in Archertree, without honors or gravestone. Only in 1737 was his last will fulfilled - 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, on the initiative of Pope John Paul II, a rehabilitation commission worked Galileo Galilei, and on October 31, 1992, Pope John Paul II officially admitted that the Inquisition made a mistake in 1633 by forcefully forcing the scientist to renounce the Copernican theory.

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

Galileo Galilei was an astronomer, physicist, mathematician, philosopher and mechanic. He greatly influenced the science of his era and became the first person to use a telescope to observe celestial bodies. Scientists have made many brilliant discoveries in the field of astronomy. He became the founder experimental physics and founded classical mechanics.

Galileo Galilei was born in the Italian city of Pisa on February 15, 1564 into the family of a noble but poor nobleman. After ten years he became a pupil of the monastery at Vallombroms, which he left at the age of seventeen. He went to university hometown on Faculty of Medicine where did you get it academic degree and became a professor.

In 1592, Galileo became dean of the department of mathematics at the University of Padua, where he created a series of greatest works in mathematics and mechanics.

The first discoveries using the telescope were described by scientists in the work “Star Messenger”. This book was a huge success. Scientists built a telescope that magnified objects three times. It was placed on the tower of San Marco in Venice. Thanks to this, everyone had the opportunity to observe the stars and the Moon.

Soon there was telescope invented, increasing more than eleven times compared to the first. The discoveries made with this telescope were described in the book The Starry Messenger.

In 1637, Galileo went blind. Before the incident he wrote last book, in which scientists summarized all their observations and achievements in the field of mechanics.

The scientist's many years of work, a book about the structure of the world, played a cruel joke in his fate. In it, he popularized the theory of Copernicus, so it was in dissonance with Holy Scripture. For this reason, the scientist was persecuted for a long time by the Inquisition under threat of death. He was strictly forbidden to publish works until the end of his life.

Galileo Galilei's death occurred on January 8, 1642. The greatest scientist was buried without honors as a common person at the scientist's villa. However, years later, in 1737, his remains were solemnly reburied next to the tomb of the great Michelangelo in Santa Croce.

A few decades later, a decree was issued to lift the ban on the works of Galileo Galilei. But the scientist was finally rehabilitated only in 1992.

Option 2

In the winter of 1564, in the city of Pisa (Italy), a boy was born into a poor noble family, who later became a famous scientist not only of his century. The works of Galileo Galilei have passed through the centuries, being confirmed and supplemented new information. From childhood, young Galileo loved painting and music, was fascinated by them, worked on his skills, thanks to which he mastered these types of art to perfection. Study also attracted the boy, so he was the best among his classmates.

Galileo's father saw his son's future in medicine, and therefore, when he was first accepted into monastic order, and then became interested in studying geometry, he insisted on his son entering the University of Pisa. During almost three years of study at the university, Galileo studied and became imbued with many teachings and writings of antiquity. Further, his education became impossible due to the lack of funds from his family, but the young man’s lively mind and curiosity attracted, and just in time, the attention of a certain Marquis Guidobaldo del Monte. He noticed the young man’s merits, and after 4 years Galileo returned to his university, now as a professor of mathematics.

In 1591, Galileo remained the eldest man in the family, since his father died, but a year later he was offered a place in a very prestigious university, where in addition to mathematics he taught astronomy and even mechanics. Over the years of work at the university, Galileo's authority increased significantly. Students and professors wanted to attend his lectures. The scientist himself designed the first telescope in 1609, and in 1610 he left Venice, moving to Florence to plum at the Duke's court. Later this act will turn out to be a mistake for him.

Thanks to the telescope he designed, Galileo made new and new assumptions about the structure of the cosmos. In particular, he becomes an adherent of the heliocentric system of the world structure and defends it in every possible way, acquiring an enemy in the person of Catholics. In 1611 he went to Rome, trying to convince the religious authorities of the compatibility of science and Catholicism. Having found a good reception in Rome, Galileo conducts seminars, answers questions, explains the theory with scientific point vision. And in 1615, the Inquisition opened the first case against a scientist on charges of heresy. The Church cannot accept a theory that would refute the Bible, and the Inquisition recognizes heliocentrism as heresy. Since 1616, any support for this theory has been banned. His further attempts to get the ban lifted do not lead to positive results.

Until 1633, the Inquisition conducted an investigation into the case of the heretic Galileo. Numerous arrests, interrogations, including torture - the scientist had to endure a lot for his science. Galileo spent the last years of his life near native land, but almost completely alone. The Inquisition, under threat of imprisonment, prohibits him from having visitors. Galileo Galilei died in 1642, but being blind and very ill, he continued to work in various areas science and over the past 7 years has created a large-scale work “Conversations and mathematical proofs two sciences." Only almost 200 years later, his works were again revised, studied and found to be beyond the prohibitions.

Details Category: Stages of development of astronomy Published 09.19.2012 16:28 Views: 19417

“Exceptional strength of spirit was required to extract the laws of nature from concrete phenomena that were always before everyone’s eyes, but the explanation of which nevertheless eluded the inquisitive gaze of philosophers,” the famous writer wrote about Galileo. French mathematician and astronomer Lagrange.

Galileo Galilei's discoveries in astronomy

In 1609, Galileo Galilei independently built his first telescope with a convex lens and a concave eyepiece. At first, his telescope gave approximately 3 times magnification. Soon he managed to build a telescope that gave a magnification of 32 times. The term itself telescope Galileo also introduced it into science (at the suggestion of Federico Cesi). A number of discoveries that Galileo made with the help of a telescope contributed to the statement heliocentric system of the world, which Galileo actively promoted, and refuting the views of the geocentrists Aristotle and Ptolemy.

Galileo's telescope had one converging lens as an objective, and a diverging lens as an eyepiece. This optical design produces a non-inverted (terrestrial) image. The main disadvantages of the Galilean telescope are its very small field of view. This system is still used in theater binoculars, and sometimes in homemade amateur telescopes.

First telescopic observations celestial bodies Galileo spent January 7, 1610. They showed that the Moon, like the Earth, has a complex topography - covered with mountains and craters. Galileo explained the ashen light of the Moon, known since ancient times, as a result of falling on it sunlight, reflected by the Earth. All this refuted Aristotle’s teaching about the opposition of “earthly” and “heavenly”: the Earth became a body of fundamentally the same nature as the celestial bodies, and this served as an indirect argument in favor of the Copernican system: if other planets are moving, then it is natural to assume that the Earth is moving too. Galileo also discovered libration of the Moon (its slow vibration) and quite accurately estimated the height of the lunar mountains.

The planet Venus appeared to Galileo in the telescope not as a shiny point, but as a light crescent, similar to the moon.

The most interesting thing was the observation of the bright planet Jupiter. Through the telescope, Jupiter no longer appeared to the astronomer as a bright dot, but as a rather large circle. There were three stars in the sky near this circle, and a week later Galileo discovered a fourth star.

Looking at the picture, one might wonder why Galileo did not immediately discover all four satellites: after all, they are so clearly visible in the photograph! But we must remember that Galileo’s telescope was very weak. It turned out that all four stars not only follow Jupiter in its movements across the sky, but also revolve around this big planet. So, four moons were found at once on Jupiter - four satellites. Thus, Galileo refuted one of the arguments of opponents of heliocentrism: the Earth cannot revolve around the Sun, since the Moon itself rotates around it. After all, Jupiter obviously had to revolve either around the Earth (as in the geocentric system) or around the Sun (as in the heliocentric system). Galileo observed the orbital period of these satellites for a year and a half, but the accuracy of the estimate was achieved only in the era of Newton. Galileo proposed using observations of the eclipses of Jupiter's satellites to solve the most important problem determining longitude at sea. He himself was unable to develop an implementation of such an approach, although he worked on it until the end of his life; Cassini was the first to achieve success (1681), but due to the difficulties of observations at sea, Galileo’s method was used mainly by land expeditions, and after the invention of the marine chronometer ( mid-18th century century) the problem was closed.

Galileo also discovered (independently from Fabricius and Herriot) sunspots(dark areas on the Sun, the temperature of which is lowered by about 1500 K compared to the surrounding areas).

The existence of spots and their constant variability refuted Aristotle’s thesis about the perfection of the heavens (as opposed to the “sublunary world”). From their observations, Galileo concluded that The Sun rotates around its axis, estimated the period of this rotation and the position of the Sun's axis.

Galileo also established that Venus changes phases. On the one hand, this proved that it shines with reflected light from the Sun (about which there was no clarity in the astronomy of the previous period). On the other hand, the order of phase changes corresponded to heliocentric system: in Ptolemy’s theory, Venus as a “lower” planet was always closer to the Earth than the Sun, and “full Venus” was impossible.

Galileo also noted the strange “appendages” of Saturn, but the discovery of the ring was prevented by the weakness of the telescope. 50 years later, the ring of Saturn was discovered and described by Huygens, who had a 92-fold telescope at his disposal.

Galileo argued that when observed through a telescope, the planets are visible as disks, the apparent sizes of which in different configurations change in the same ratio as follows from the Copernican theory. However, the diameter of stars does not increase when observed with a telescope. This refuted estimates of the apparent and actual size of stars, which were used by some astronomers as an argument against the heliocentric system.

Milky Way, which naked eye looks like a continuous radiance, was revealed to Galileo in the form of individual stars, which confirmed the guess of Democritus, and a huge number of previously unknown stars became visible.

Galileo wrote a book, Dialogue Concerning the Two World Systems, in which he explained in detail why he accepted the Copernican system rather than Ptolemy. The main points of this dialogue are as follows:

• Venus and Mercury are never in opposition, meaning that they orbit the Sun and their orbit is between the Sun and the Earth.
• Mars has oppositions. From an analysis of changes in brightness during the movement of Mars, Galileo concluded that this planet also revolves around the Sun, but at in this case The earth is inside its orbit. He made similar conclusions for Jupiter and Saturn.

It remains to choose between two systems of the world: the Sun (with planets) revolves around the Earth or the Earth revolves around the Sun. The observed pattern of planetary movements in both cases is the same, this guarantees principle of relativity formulated by Galileo himself. Therefore, additional arguments are needed for the choice, among which Galileo cites the greater simplicity and naturalness of the Copernican model (however, he rejected Kepler’s system with elliptical orbits of the planets).

Galileo explained why earth's axis does not rotate as the Earth revolves around the Sun; To explain this phenomenon, Copernicus introduced a special “third movement” of the Earth. Galileo showed experimentally that the axis of a freely moving top maintains its direction by itself(“Letters to Ingoli”):

“A similar phenomenon is evidently found in any body that is in a freely suspended state, as I have shown to many; and you yourself can verify this by placing a floating wooden ball in a vessel of water, which you take in your hands, and then, stretching them out, you begin to rotate around yourself; you will see how this ball will rotate around itself in the direction opposite to your rotation; he will finish his full turn at the same time you finish yours.”

Galileo made a serious mistake in believing that the phenomenon of tides proved the rotation of the Earth on its axis. But he also gives other serious arguments in favor of the daily rotation of the Earth:

• It is difficult to agree that the entire Universe makes a daily revolution around the Earth (especially considering the colossal distances to the stars); it is more natural to explain the observed picture by the rotation of the Earth alone. Synchronous participation of planets in daily rotation would also violate the observed pattern that the farther a planet is from the Sun, the slower it moves.
• Even the huge Sun has been found to have axial rotation.

To prove the rotation of the Earth, Galileo suggests mentally imagining that a cannon shell or a falling body deviates slightly from the vertical during the fall, but his calculation shows that this deviation is negligible.

Galileo also made the correct observation that the rotation of the Earth must influence the dynamics of the winds. All these effects were discovered much later.

Other achievements of Galileo Galilei

He also invented:

• Hydrostatic balance for determining specific gravity solids
• The first thermometer, still without a scale (1592).
• Proportional compass used in drafting (1606).
• Microscope (1612); With its help, Galileo studied insects.

The range of his interests was very wide: Galileo was also involved optics, acoustics, theory of color and magnetism, hydrostatics(the science that studies the equilibrium of liquids) resistance of materials, fortification problems (military science about artificial closures and barriers). I tried to measure the speed of light. He empirically measured the density of air and gave a value of 1/400 (compare: Aristotle - 1/10, true modern meaning 1/770).

Galileo also formulated the law of the indestructibility of matter.

Having become acquainted with all the achievements of Galileo Galilei in science, it is impossible not to become interested in his personality. Therefore, we will tell you about the main stages of his life’s journey.

From the biography of Galileo Galilei

The future Italian scientist (physicist, mechanic, astronomer, philosopher and mathematician) was born in 1564 in Pisa. As you already know, he is the author of outstanding astronomical discoveries. But his adherence to the heliocentric system of the world led to serious conflicts with the Catholic Church, which made his life very difficult.

He was born into a noble family, his father was a famous musician and music theorist. His passion for art was passed on to his son: Galileo studied music and drawing, and also had literary talent.

Education

He received his primary education in the monastery closest to his home, studied all his life with great eagerness - he studied medicine at the University of Pisa, and at the same time was interested in geometry. He studied at the university for only about 3 years - his father could no longer pay for his son’s studies, but news of the talented young man reached senior officials, he was patronized by the Marquis del Monte and the Tuscan Duke Ferdinand I de' Medici.

Scientific activity

Galileo later taught at the University of Pisa and then at the more prestigious University of Padua, where his most fruitful years began. scientific activity. Here he is actively involved in astronomy - he invents his own first telescope. He named the four satellites of Jupiter that he discovered after the sons of his patron Medici (now they are called the Galilean satellites). Galileo described his first discoveries with a telescope in his essay “The Starry Messenger”; this book became a real bestseller of its time, and the inhabitants of Europe quickly purchased telescopes for themselves. Galileo becomes the most famous scientist in Europe; odes are written in his honor, comparing him to Columbus.

During these years, Galileo entered into a civil marriage, in which he had a son and two daughters.

Of course, such people, in addition to their adherents, always have enough ill-wishers, and Galileo did not escape this. Detractors were especially outraged by his propaganda of the heliocentric system of the world, because a detailed substantiation of the concept of the immobility of the Earth and a refutation of hypotheses about its rotation was contained in Aristotle’s treatise “On Heaven” and in Ptolemy’s “Almagest”.

In 1611, Galileo decided to go to Rome to convince Pope Paul V that Copernicus' ideas were completely compatible with Catholicism. He was received well and showed them his telescope, giving careful and careful explanations. The cardinals created a commission to clarify the question of whether it was sinful to look at the sky through a pipe, but came to the conclusion that this was permissible. Roman astronomers openly discussed the question of whether Venus was moving around the Earth or around the Sun (the changing phases of Venus clearly spoke in favor of the second option).

But denunciations to the Inquisition began. And when Galileo published the book “Letters on Sunspots” in 1613, in which he openly spoke out in favor of the Copernican system, the Roman Inquisition began its first case against Galileo on charges of heresy. Galileo's last mistake was his call to Rome to express its final attitude towards the teachings of Copernicus. Then Catholic Church decided to ban his teaching with the explanation that “ The Church does not object to the interpretation of Copernicanism as a convenient mathematical device, but accepting it as a reality would mean admitting that the previous, traditional interpretation biblical text was wrong».

March 5, 1616 Rome officially defines heliocentrism as a dangerous heresy. Copernicus's book was banned.

The church prohibition of heliocentrism, the truth of which Galileo was convinced, was unacceptable for the scientist. He began to think about how to continue defending the truth without formally violating the ban. And I decided to publish a book containing a neutral discussion different points vision. He wrote this book for 16 years, collecting materials, honing his arguments and waiting for the right moment. Finally (in 1630) it was finished, this book - “Dialogue about the two most important systems of the world - Ptolemaic and Copernican” , but was published only in 1632. The book is written in the form of a dialogue between three lovers of science: a Copernican, a neutral participant, and an adherent of Aristotle and Ptolemy. Although the book does not contain the author's conclusions, the strength of the arguments in favor of the Copernican system speaks for itself. But in the neutral participant, the Pope recognized himself and his arguments and became furious. Within a few months, the book was banned and withdrawn from sale, and Galileo was summoned to Rome to be tried by the Inquisition on suspicion of heresy. After the first interrogation, he was taken into custody. There is an opinion that torture was used against him, that Galileo was threatened with death, he was interrogated in the torture room, where terrible weapons were laid out before the prisoner’s eyes: leather funnels through which they poured water into a person’s stomach. great amount water, iron boots (the feet of the person being tortured were screwed into them), pincers used to break bones...

In any case, he was faced with a choice: either he would repent and renounce his “delusions,” or he would suffer the fate of Giordano Bruno. He could not bear the threats and renounced his writing.

But Galileo remained a prisoner of the Inquisition until his death. He was strictly forbidden to talk to anyone about the movement of the Earth. And yet, Galileo secretly worked on an essay in which he asserted the truth about the Earth and the heavenly bodies. After the verdict, Galileo was settled in one of the Medici villas, and five months later he was allowed to go home, and he settled in Arcetri, next to the monastery where his daughters were. Here he spent the rest of his life under house arrest and under constant surveillance by the Inquisition.

Some time later, after the death of his beloved daughter, Galileo completely lost his sight, but continued Scientific research, relying on faithful students, among whom was Torricelli. Only once, shortly before his death, the Inquisition allowed the blind and seriously ill Galileo to leave Arcetri and settle in Florence for treatment. At the same time, under pain of prison, he was forbidden to leave the house and discuss the “damned opinion” about the movement of the Earth.

Galileo Galilei died on January 8, 1642, at the age of 78, in his bed. He was buried in Arcetri without honors; the Pope also did not allow him to erect a monument.

Later, Galileo’s only grandson also became a monk and burned the scientist’s priceless manuscripts that he kept as ungodly. He was the last representative of the Galilean family.

Afterword

In 1737, Galileo's ashes, as he requested, were transferred to the Basilica of Santa Croce, where on March 17 he was solemnly buried next to Michelangelo.

In 1835, books that defended heliocentrism were removed from the list of prohibited books.

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.

“ShkolaLa” welcomes all its readers who want to know a lot.

Once upon a time everyone thought like this:

The earth is a flat, huge nickel,

But one man took the telescope,

Opened the way for us to the space age.

Who do you think this is?

Among the world-famous scientists is Galileo Galilei. In which country you were born and how you studied, what you discovered and what you became famous for - these are the questions to which we will look for answers today.

Lesson plan:

Where are future scientists born?

The poor family where little Galileo Galilei was born in 1564 lived in Italian city Pisa.

The father of the future scientist was a true master in various fields, from mathematics to art history, so it is not at all surprising that from childhood young Galileo fell in love with painting and music and gravitated towards the exact sciences.

When the boy turned eleven, the family from Pisa, where Galileo lived, moved to another city in Italy - Florence.

There he began his studies in a monastery, where young student demonstrated brilliant abilities in the study of science. He even thought about a career as a clergyman, but his father did not approve of his choice, wanting his son to become a doctor. That is why, at seventeen, Galileo moved to the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Pisa and began to diligently study philosophy, physics and mathematics.

However, he was unable to graduate from university for a simple reason: his family could not pay for it further training. Having left the third year, student Galileo begins self-education in the field of physical and mathematical sciences.

Thanks to his friendship with the rich Marquis del Monte, the young man managed to get paid scientific position teacher of astronomy and mathematics at the University of Pisa.

During his university work, he conducted various experiments, which resulted in the laws he discovered free fall, body movements inclined plane and the force of inertia.

Since 1606, the scientist has been closely involved in astronomy.

Interesting Facts! Full name scientist - Galileo di Vincenzo Bonaiuti de Galilei.

About mathematics, mechanics and physics

They say that, as a professor at the university in the town of Pisa, Galileo conducted experiments by dropping objects of different weights from a height Leaning Tower of Pisa to refute Aristotle's theory. Even in some textbooks you can find such a picture.

Only these experiments are not mentioned anywhere in Galileo’s works. Most likely, as researchers today believe, this is a myth.

But the scientist rolled objects along an inclined plane, measuring time by his own heart pulse. There were no accurate clocks back then! These very experiments were put into the laws of motion of bodies.

Galileo was credited with inventing the thermometer in 1592. The device was then called a thermoscope, and it was completely primitive. A thin glass tube was soldered to the glass ball. This structure was placed in liquid. The air in the ball heated up and displaced the liquid in the tube. The higher the temperature, the more air in the ball and the lower the water level in the tube.

In 1606, an article appeared where Galileo laid out a drawing of a proportional compass. This is a simple tool that converted measured dimensions to scale and was used in architecture and drafting.

Galileo is credited with the invention of the microscope. In 1609, he made a “small eye” with two lenses - convex and concave. Using his invention, the scientist examined insects.

With his research, Galileo laid the foundations classical physics and mechanics. Thus, on the basis of his conclusions about inertia, Newton subsequently established the first law of mechanics, according to which any body is at rest or moves uniformly in the absence of external forces.

His studies of pendulum oscillations formed the basis for the invention of the pendulum clock and made it possible to make precise measurements in physics.

Interesting Facts! Galileo not only succeeded in natural sciences, but there was still creative person: He knew literature very well and wrote poetry.

About astronomical discoveries that shocked the world

In 1609, a scientist heard a rumor about the existence of a device that could help view distant objects by collecting light. If you already guessed, it was called a telescope, which is translated from Greek as “look far away.”

For his invention, Galileo modified the telescope with lenses, and this device was capable of magnifying objects by 3 times. Time after time, he put together a new combination of several telescopes, and it gave more and more magnification. As a result, Galileo’s “visionary” began to zoom in 32 times.

What discoveries in the field of astronomy belonged to Galileo Galilei and made him famous throughout the world, becoming real sensations? How did his invention help the scientist?

• Galileo Galilei told everyone that this is a planet comparable to the Earth. He saw plains, craters and mountains on its surface.
• Thanks to the telescope, Galileo discovered four satellites of Jupiter, today called “Galilean”, and appeared to everyone in the form of a strip scattering into many stars.
• By placing smoked glass at the telescope, the scientist was able to examine it, see spots on it and prove to everyone that it was the Earth that revolved around it, and not vice versa, as Aristotle believed and religion and the Bible said.
• He was the first to see the surroundings, which he took to be satellites, today known to us as rings, and found different phases near Venus and made it possible to observe previously unknown stars.

Their Galileo's discoveries Galileo united in the book “Star Messenger”, confirming the hypothesis that our planet is mobile and rotates around an axis, and the sun does not revolve around us, which caused the condemnation of the church. His work was called heresy, and the scientist himself lost his freedom of movement and was placed under house arrest.

Interesting Facts! It is quite surprising for our developed world that it was only in 1992 that the Vatican and the Pope recognized that Galileo was right about the rotation of the Earth around the Sun. Until this time, the Catholic Church was sure that the opposite was happening: our planet is motionless, and the Sun “walks” around us.

This is how you can briefly tell about the life of an outstanding scientist who gave impetus to the development of astronomy, physics and mathematics.

A famous science and entertainment television program was named after Galileo Galilei. The host of this program, Alexander Pushnoy, and his colleagues conducted all sorts of different experiments and tried to explain what they did. I suggest watching an excerpt from this wonderful program right now.

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