12 Contributions Of Galileo Galilei To The World Of Science
The figure of Galileo Galilei has never gone unnoticed. This great Renaissance thinker and scientist has contributed, with his theories and inventions, to the vision we have of the universe today, laying the foundations of modern astronomy.
His life was very prolific and he never stopped designing new devices that brought him closer to the authentic nature of the world in which he lived. However, it was also why he had more than one run-in with the Catholic Church.
There are many contributions from Galileo Galilei but the main ones, widely known, are the ones we are going to see below.
Galileo Galilei was an Italian mathematician, astronomer, physicist and inventor born in Pisa in 1564. He has been one of the great minds of the Renaissance in addition to being known for having dared to challenge the court of the Inquisition and the entire Catholic Church, ensuring that some ideas that had been well established in the West for centuries were no longer valid.
Although he had to retract many of his discoveries to save his life, living his last years in shadow and shame, being considered a liar, today his contributions to science are widely recognized. Its importance has been such that in 1992 the Catholic Church recognized its error publicly apologizing to Galilei and rehabilitating him, 359 years after condemning him.
Main contributions of Galileo Galilei
Galileo Galilei’s work is very extensive, like that of any great Renaissance figure of the stature of Leonardo da Vinci or Michelangelo. However, below we will see his main contributions and inventions, which have helped shape science the way it has come to us today.
Galileo Galilei is well known for having contributed enormously to the understanding of nature through something as simple as lenses. He made many lenses of all kinds of sizes and curvatures, which allowed him to design a kind of microscope.
Although this instrument was still very rudimentary, called ochiollino, and was not technically a microscope, allowed him to see small objects
However, it must be said that the authorship of the first authentic microscope has been widely disputed, with Zacharias Janssen, Robert Hooke and Anton van Leeuwenhoek being some of the men who made improvements to this apparatus.
2. Telescope upgrade
Galilei did not invent the telescope but he did manage to make great improvements to this instrument, allowing him to have a better observation of sidereal phenomena.
The first telescope was known in 1609, but Galilei improved it considerably just a year later, making it up to thirty times better. He managed to manufacture them almost in a chain, having made up to fifty more in a very short time.
3. Geometric Compass
It is one of the first inventions of this genius, in addition to being one of the instruments that allowed him to acquire a certain fame and, most importantly, money. In addition to selling it, Galileo Galilei made a business teaching how to use it.
Thanks to the geometric compass, it was possible to make geometric figures with greater ease and precision than before, in addition to being able to perform complex mathematical calculations with it. It had a war purpose, allowing the trajectory of cannon bullets to be calculated.
4. Pendulum
Galileo Galilei studied the movement of the pendulum and its oscillations. He had the idea by observing the movement of the bells of the Pisa cathedral, which were swayed by the wind.
Thus, in 1583 he studied the pendulum. He realized that the weight of the ball or object of the pendulum did not matter, The important thing was the length of the rope that held it
5. Scientific revolution
His attitude towards the ecclesiastical powers of the time is well known. Although Galileo Galilei had been raised in the Catholic faith, this did not prevent him from showing his theories and discoveries, which went against the Catholic Church.
At a time when it was thought that the Earth was the center of the Universe, he refuted it saying that our planet was nothing more than another star that revolved around the Sun.
This led to his arrest and he was close to being burned at the stake. He had to recant to avoid dying; However, with his opposition to taken-for-granted beliefs, he managed to start a true scientific revolution.
Many great thinkers of the time sided with Galilei, and delved deeper into his theories and hypotheses shaping science and contributing to it being conceived as we see it today.
6. Contributions to Copernican theory
In relation to the previous point, Galileo Galilei studied the theories of Nicholas Copernicus on the movement of the stars refuting the religious belief that the Earth was the center of the entire Universe.
Thanks to the telescope improvements carried out by this Italian scientist, the true movement of the planets could be demonstrated with empirical evidence.
7. Scientific method
Galileo Galilei is considered the father of the scientific method which served to clash against preconceived beliefs and a thought that tended towards the conservatism characteristic of Renaissance Catholicism.
He tried to be as objective as possible, letting himself be guided by mathematics and rigorous observation of natural phenomena.
8. Law of motion
The first law of motion, later stated by Isaac Newton was the subject of study by Galileo Galilei.
Through his research, the Italian scientist understood that the mass of the object in a vacuum did not matter, seeing movement as, basically, the combination of acceleration and speed of the object itself.
The movement was carried out thanks to the application of a force, which made the object move from point A to point B taking a certain period of time. If no force was applied to the system, then it was at rest.
9. Law of the fall
Continuing with his other studies in the field of physics, Galileo Galilei studied how forces can be responsible for the acceleration of an object, allowing him to understand the forces of gravity.
When an object falls, it progressively accelerates as it falls This acceleration is due to the force of gravity.
10. Jupiter satellites
In 1610 Galileo Galilei discovered the moons of Jupiter He saw how four luminous points were near this planet, thinking at first that they were stars.
However, later, seeing how they moved in the night sky, he concluded that they had to be satellites of Jupiter: Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto
11. Sunspots
Although it may seem surprising, during the Renaissance there were many who dared to study the sun’s spots. It must be said that, although Galileo was not the one who made the first discovery, he did know how to take advantage of the work of others.
12. Moon Studies
With the studies of the Moon that he carried out, Galileo Galilei contributed great advances to the field of astronomy, studying both the movement of the satellite and the time it took to be fully illuminated and completely dark.
He also saw how the Moon had a geography similar to that of the Earth, with its craters, mountains and valleys.
