Sanity
Josiah Martin
Senior Inquiry 3rd hour
March 9, 2016
Sanity
Galileo Galilei
(1564-1642)
The Basics
Galileo Galilei was an Italian physicist and well known astronomer born in Pisa in 1564 (Dejoie). Dejoie reports for Starchild that Galileo was almost served a death sentence for his scientific observations because of their opposition to the teachings of the Church. Despite the Church's beliefs during this time period, Galileo’s observations through a telescope drove him to take hold of the heliocentric belief of the solar system. The heliocentric belief that Earth is not the center of the universe and that it revolves around the sun (Dejoie). Dejoie states that Galileo was released from his charges; however, because he continued to preach his findings, he was sentenced to a life of house arrest.
Impact on our World Today
Galileo didn't receive any awards or honors, but he has impacted the world immensely. Without recognition until long after his death, he made the discovery of the solar system's layout which has been extremely important in all space studies (Dejoie). Without Galileo's correct mapping of the solar system our research would be incredibly hindered. His discovery of the Sun centering the solar system has been vital.
According to the University of Tennessee’s Astronomy 161, Galileo’s theories were built on by Sir Isaac Newton, who is arguably the greatest scientist of all time. It also states that Newton not only continued on Galileo’s findings in astronomy, but also picked up on Galileo’s concept of inertia to help formulate the three Newton laws. This is very significant because those three laws are used daily by physicists around the world, and Galileo assisted with their creation.
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