Did Galileo do all this? (physics, video, format, systems)
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I am re-reading Einstein's Theory of Relativity - the math-challenged layman's version. Suddenly I am seeing things that seem to be being credited to Galileo that I'd never heard of. I may be mis-interpreting. And I may not be. Do I need to go back and read a good biography of Galileo's studies and theories? If so, what? Here are a few of the things I've picked up from Einstein's book.
From where did these "Galileian" theories arise? If what I am seeing in this book says anything, it says that Galileo was as much of a thorough-bred scientist as at least Newton if not Einstein himself - "thoroughbred" meaning in the more modern scientific sense. E.g.:
Galilei transformation
and addition of velocities
and measuring rod lengths.
time in.
Galileian system of coordinates
and principles of relativity
and uniform translation of
There are a few others but those stand out as referred to most often. The "and"s, of course, are Einstein's use of those but did Galileo talk about and make use of reference bodies and system of coordinates?
Galileo invented everything, didn't you know this?
Just joking, don't worry :P
Anyway, Galileo surely was a really important part of modern science history. I'm not an expert at all as far as relativity theories are concerned (anyway, there should be something even on wikipedia --> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galilean_invariance ), but in here we do know Galileo and so I just want to add some lines about him.
He has been called the "father of observational astronomy",[11] the "father of modern physics",[12][13] the "father of scientific method",[14] and the "father of science".[15][16]
His books are really interesting too, I really would like to have enough time for reading them. Anyway, I still want to share his most famous lines in absolute, from the Assayer (written in 1623):
Quote:
Philosophy [i.e. physics] is written in this grand book — I mean the universe — which stands continually open to our gaze, but it cannot be understood unless one first learns to comprehend the language and interpret the characters in which it is written. It is written in the language of mathematics, and its characters are triangles, circles, and other geometrical figures, without which it is humanly impossible to understand a single word of it; without these, one is wandering around in a dark labyrinth.
Oh, thank you, Urania. I knew Galileo put Earth in its place. I suppose I stopped paying attention after that. Too busy looking for Pern, :-) One item in your story I do remember once reading - that he is known as the father of modern physics. It just went over my head.
"His books" - plural? Where do I start - meaning which might be easiest? And I might say will I even find a 17th century book these days? I shall ask my favorite book seller what he can find. At the same time, I'd appreciate your suggestions. Something like this 1916 Einstein book - although he did occasionally fall into the math-trap, despite his promise not to do so. That's when he loses me. One year of algebra and one year of geometry does not a physics scholar make. :-(
Oh, thank you, Urania. I knew Galileo put Earth in its place. I suppose I stopped paying attention after that. Too busy looking for Pern, :-) One item in your story I do remember once reading - that he is known as the father of modern physics. It just went over my head.
"His books" - plural? Where do I start - meaning which might be easiest? And I might say will I even find a 17th century book these days? I shall ask my favorite book seller what he can find. At the same time, I'd appreciate your suggestions. Something like this 1916 Einstein book - although he did occasionally fall into the math-trap, despite his promise not to do so. That's when he loses me. One year of algebra and one year of geometry does not a physics scholar make. :-(
Thank you, very, very much.
Being written 400 years ago, Galileo books have not exactly the same style as modern books. Also, the old-style language is quite challenging (but this is probably less problematic for the translated editions). Anyway, his books are not classic science essays, in fact we also study them in our literature and philosophy lectures.
Right now I probably can't remember the details about these books, because I studied them in middle high school, anyway the main titles I can thinks of now are:
- Sidereus Nuncius, written in 1610 and focused on his first astronomical observation made with a telescope
- The Assayer, written in 1623, was part of an argument with another scientist centred on the nature of comets (actually, Galileo theories about this theme were later demonstrated to be wrong). Anyway, this book is mostly famous for the first references to the scientific method, and in particular for the few lines I quoted in my first post.
- Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems, written in 1632, is probably the easiest to read among the three. The book consists into a fictional dialog between three character about Copernican and Ptolemaic systems and other scientific themes Galileo was working on. It is a really peculiar book, and quite impressive considering the period in which it was written (the church strong opposition in particular).
This one is also sold on Amazon https://www.amazon.com/Dialogue-Conc...+World+Systems
(don't ask me why this edition has so many pages, the actual Galileo writing is probably just a little part of the book)
Thank you. That's what I needed. If you read them in high school, I should be able to handle them.
From the scientific point of view it should not be hard at all (even though not all Galileo statements were later proven to be true), but on the other hand the old-style writing can make the reading less fluid than for other more modern books.
No one gets to be perfect. Not all of Edgar Allan Poe's scientific theories were proven true but an amazing number of them were, given that most people only know him as a writer of some macabre fiction. Try "Eureka" for a change of attitude toward Poe. You might like it. I just want enough of Galileo to know how his theories fit in with the rest of what I am learning. I hope I like the book.
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