1+1+1 for 365 day 3: Galileo

TODAY'S QUOTE

"I render infinite thanks to God for being so kind as to make me alone the first observer of marvels kept hidden in obscurity for all previous centuries." - Galileo Galilei


TODAY'S BOOK

Galileo's Daughter by Dava Sobel.

Some of Dava Sobel's other books are sure to feature later in the 1+1+1 for 365 project, but I mention this one first because it was the first of her books I read and also it ties in well with today's quote.

Einstein said of Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) that he was "the father of modern physics - indeed of modern science altogether."  Galileo revolutionised observational astronomy - and man's view of our place in the universe - by being the first to make scientific observations of the heavens through a telescope.  How remarkable his work was, becomes clear when you look at pictures of his telescopes: they were tiny and indeed less powerful than the smallest amateur telescopes available today. 

He famously observed the four large moons of Jupiter which were subsequently referred to collectively as the "Galilean moons" in his honour. Among others he also studied Venus and the phases of Venus and studied Earth's own moon in more detail.

Galileo was not the first to suggest a heliocentric universe rather than a geocentric view, but it was at least in part due to his efforts that a big mindshift in humanity's understanding of our universe started taking place. How big that shift was, is illustrated by the fact of how long it took the Roman Catholic Church officially to remove its opposition to heliocentrism. 

Works that advocate that view were finally removed from the Index in 1835 when these works were finally dropped from the Index.  Galileo had died almost 2 centuries earlier.  But it took almost another century and a half for the Pope (John Paul II) in 1992 to express regret for how the Galileo affair was handled by the Catholic Church tribunal that judged Galileo's scientific position.

Apart from being an astronomer,  Galileo was also a philosopher, theoretical and practical physicist, mathematician and inventor.  We read about all of that - although not all about all of that - in Dava Sobel's  book.
 
Her book is different from other volumes about Galileo in that it is based among others on the surviving 124 letters written by his eldest daughter Virginia, who had become a nun and taken the name of Suor Maria Celeste.  Like her two siblings she was illegitimate (the book also explains the background to this and some other social conventions of the day), yet became Galileo's confidant, supporting her father emotionally and in many practical ways.

Thus, as might be expected, the book tells the story of Galileo the scientist and his famous confrontation with the Roman Catholic Church. Even more tellingly, it tells us about the human being and about the details of daily life in the first half of the 17th century in Italy.   The story of his house arrest is known to most people who have heard about Galileo, but the small, human details about his health - and his enduring faith despite all that he had to endure from the church - is illuminated beautifully in this volume.

Dava Sobel writes beautifully and this book is a gem.  I loved reading it and whether you like biographies, history or books about the background to scientific endeavour, I'd recommend it.


TODAY'S PICTURE:  Moon kittens

Well, since I already included a picture of Ganymede, one of my "moon cats" named for the Galilean moons of Jupiter, I had to include one of the two "girls" - Callisto (black) and Io (ginger). They adore one another and like the moons that orbit around the planet, they also seldom wander away very far from me.

WEBSITE OF THE DAY: 

http://www.petco.co.za/  Not only do they do great things and help us to learn to recycle PET plastic, but it is a very nicely designed website.  They're a client - but I would have said so even if they weren't.

Picture & text: © Lee Labuschagne - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED