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| Galileo Galilei |
Galileo, known by his first name only, was an astronomer, inventor, Physicist and mathematician. He was born February 15, 1564 in Pisa, to a father, who was a famous lutanist ( lute is a stringed instrument with a pear shaped body ) .
His father, Vincenzo Galilei, wrote several books on music history and theory, one of which analyzed both old and modern music entitled "Dialogo della musica antica e moderna" ( Dialog of old and modern music ) which was published in 1581. Vincenzo Galilei was also experimenter by nature, and combined the practice and the theory of music. He was the first to discover the ratio of string lengths to octaves. It had been believed that the ratio was 2:1, but he proved that it was 4:1 by his experiments that hung weights from strings. Galileo was raised by a father who used mathematics and experimentation in his musical studies. Similarly, Galileo, in his own life, also used mathematics and experimentation to rock the foundations of the world scientific, philosophical and religious establishments.
Galileo entered Pisa University as a medical student in 1581. He later decided to become a mathematician and from1592 to 1610 was professor of mathematics at Padua University. Galileo taught himself optics and ingeniously used the lenses available at the time to build a telescope with significant magnification. His passion to study the heavens drove him to experiment with optics, and ultimately, invent the modern telescope.
In 1609, his first had a magnification power of 30, which was a massive power for his day. Other very crude spyglasses existed at the time with double or triple magnification and were used by ships captains or military leaders. There are two known examples of magnification spyglasses long before Galileo’s powerful telescope. For example, Leonardo da Vinci studied optics and designed a telescope 100 years before Galileo, but the optics of his day prevented da Vinci from building one with much magnification. His designs and analysis included curved mirrors and glass hemispheres. Da Vinci even developed a means of testing mirrored surfaces for quality anticipating the Hartman optical method. The famous Arab scientist Alhazen documented an even earlier writing of a primitive magnifying lens around 1000 AD. The Roman emperor Nero (37AD-67AD) used an emerald as a means of magnifying the view of events in a large arena. Also, Hans Lipperhey in Holland patented a primitive telescope in 1608, but it was based upon early models.
Nevertheless, Galileo built the first modern telescope and was the first to build one powerful enough to study the heavens. Perhaps more importantly, Galileo used his new telescope to make new scientific discoveries that greatly enlightened the world.
Nevertheless, Galileo built the first modern telescope and was the first to build one powerful enough to study the heavens. Perhaps more importantly, Galileo used his new telescope to make new scientific discoveries that greatly enlightened the world.
Using his new invention, Galileo systematically studied the sky. He made many fantastic astronomical discoveries and today he is considered the father of Modern Astronomy. Galileo was the first to provide evidence that confirmed the theory of the great Polish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus that the Sun, not the earth, was at the center of the solar system. Galileo’s studies of the crescent phase of Venus provided the first evidence that the hearth was not at the center of the solar system and that the earth moved around the sun.
Galileo was the first to discover that Jupiter had a group of moons and noted that the ones closer to
Jupiter moved faster than the ones further away. He also was the first to discover that the earth’s moon has craters. He also discovered that the Sun was spotted with dark areas and he was the first to think these Sunspots were related to the nature of the sun itself.
In 1989, the U.S. space agency NASA launched the Galileo spacecraft, named in Galileo’s honor, to explore Jupiter and his moons. It reached Jupiter on December 7th1995. The spacecraft’s mission was highly successful and brought back amount of information on Jupiter and his moons, Venus, and asteroid belts.
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