Galileo Galilei
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| My Galileo Galilei Drawing |
In 1585, Galileo left the university without having a degree. For several years he gave private lessons in the mathematical subjects in Siena and Florence. He also began his studies in motion, which he studied for the next two decades (20 years).
In 1588, Galileo applied for the chair of mathematics at the University of Bologna, but he was unsuccessful. As a result, after a year, he obtained the chair of mathematics at the University of Pisa in 1589. There from to his first biographer, Vincenzo Viviani (1622-1703), Galileo demonstrated by dropping objects of different weights from the top of the famous Leaning Tower. His sponsor or backer secured him the chair of mathematics at the University of Padua, where he taught from 1592 until 1610.
But Galileo's salary was much higher there, his responsibilities as the head of the family (because his father had died in 1591). His university salary could not cover all his cost. He sold a Proportional Compass or sector. Because of those financial problems, he did not marry, but he did have an arrangement with a Venetian woman, Marina Gambia.
Telescopic Discoveries
At that point, Galileo's career changed a lot. In the spring of 1609, he heard that in the Netherlands an instrument had been invented that showed far things as though they were nearby. By the court cases and errors, he quickly figured out the secret of the invention and made his own three-powered spyglass from lenses for sale in spectacle markers' shops. Also, he quickly figured out how to improve the instrument. He taught himself the art of lens in a difficult situation and produced an increasingly powerful telescope. In August of that year, he presented an eight powered instrument to the Venetian Senate (Padua was in the Venetian Republic. Galileo was rewarded with a lifetime manner and a doubling of his salary. Galileo was now one of the highest paid professors at the university. In December he drew the Moon's phases as seen through the telescope, showing that the moon is not smooth. As being thought it is rough and uneven. In January 1610 he discovered four moons of Jupiter. He also found that the telescope showed many more stars that are visible with the naked eye. Those discoveries were shocking, and Galileo quickly produced a little book, named Sidereus Nuncius (The Sidereal Messenger). He dedicated the book to Cosimo II de Medici (1590-1621). He named the moons of Jupiter after the Medici family: "Medicean Stars". Before he left Padua he had discovered the appearance of Saturn, later to be shown as caused by a ring surrounding it. In Florence, he discovered that Venus goes through phases just as the Moon does.
Galileo was then 70 years old. Still, he kept on working. In Siena, he had begun a new book on the sciences of motion and the strength of materials. There he wrote up his unpublished studies that have been interrupted by the interest in the telescope in 1609. The book was active out of Italy and published in Leiden, Netherlands, in 1638, under the title Discorsi e dimostrazioni matematiche intorno a due nuove scienze attenenti alla meccanica (Italian) (Dialogues Concerning Two New Sciences). By then Galileo had become blind, and he spend his time working with a young student. Vincenzo Viviani, who was with him when he died on January 8, 1642.
What I've Learnt?
What I've Learnt?
- Galileo left university without a degree.
- Galileo named Jupiter's moons after the Medici family.
- Galileo had learnt more subjects than mathematics.
- Galileo was blind after 70 years of age.
- Galileo was crazy about mathematics subjects.
- Galileo had been to different universities.
- Galileo discovered Venus going through phases just like the Moon.
- Galileo had written books about what he had learnt.
