Hydrostatic balance of Galileo. Galileo Galilei: brief biography

Galileo Galilei is an Italian scholar, philologist, mechanic, critic, poet, astronomer and physicist. He had a significant influence on the development of the science of his time. The basis of knowledge was considered by experience and fiercely fought against scholastic teachings. Now everyone knows his achievements: Galileo invented a hydrostatic balance, a thermoscope and perfected a telescope. The scientist is the founder of experimental physics. In this article we will tell you about the life and inventions of Galileo. So, let's get started.

Childhood and youth

Galileo Galileo, whose brief biography will be presented below, was born in Pisa (Italy) in 1564. His father, who worked as a musician and mathematician, chose a medical profession for his son. After the boy graduated from the monastic school, he identified him in the University of Pisa at the Medical Faculty. But seventeen Galileo was not interested. He left the university and went to Florence, where he studied the works of Archimedes and Euclid. Father Galileo, yielding to his son's requests, transferred him to the Faculty of Philosophy.

In his childhood, Galileo liked to design mechanical toys and operating models of ships, mills, cars. The disciple Galileo Viviani, who later wrote a biography of the scientist, mentioned that already in his youth Galileo was very observant. It was thanks to this quality that he managed to make an important discovery: when he saw the pumping of a chandelier in the Pisa Cathedral , the young man invented the law of isochronous pendulum oscillations (independence of the deviation from the period of oscillations). Many researchers disagree with Viviani and believe that this discovery does not belong to Galileo. But it is reliably known that Galileo repeatedly tested this law by experience. He also used it to determine the length of time. This experiment was enthusiastically received by doctors.

Hydrostatic balance of Galileo

In 1586 the young scientist published the first scientific work of a practical nature. Galileo designed special hydrostatic scales and described them in detail in his work. It can be said that this determined his future destiny as a scientist.

The hydrostatic balance allows you to determine the density of precious stones and metals during weighing. The method itself was discovered by Archimedes. The work of Galileo under the title "Little Scales" came to the Florentine mathematician Guido del Monte. The scientist immediately recognized Galileo as a talented mechanic and wished to get to know him.

It was on the recommendation of del Monte in 1589 that Galileo took the place of a professor at his university, which he could not finish because of financial difficulties. True, he was taken to the minimum salary, but the scientist was still happy, because the hydrostatic balance of Galileo was glorified in the scientific world. He was especially known among Italian mathematicians.

Treatise on the movement

Starting to teach mathematics and philosophy at the university, Galileo faced a difficult choice. On the one hand, the indestructible dogmas of Aristotle's view, on the other, their own reflections, backed up by experience. According to Aristotle, the speed of the fall of the body is proportional to its weight. Galileo refuted this assertion when, with numerous witnesses, he dumped balls of the same size from the Leaning Tower of Pisa, but with different weights. Aristotle taught that different bodies have different "lightness properties", so some of them fall much faster than others. In order for the body to move, it needs an air push, therefore, the movement of the body indicates the absence of emptiness. The experiences of Galileo talked about the opposite.

In 1590, the researcher wrote a treatise on the movement. In it, he sharply criticized the views of the followers of Aristotle (peripatetics). This caused disapproval of the scientist on the part of representatives of official scholastic science. In addition, Galileo was not satisfied with the salary received. He was very cramped in the means. The above-mentioned Del Monte helped him by recommending Galileo to the University of Padua.

The Paduan period

Since 1592, the most fruitful period in the life of the researcher began. We have already talked about the hydrostatic balance of Galileo, which became his first discovery. So, for the years of teaching at the University of Padua, the scientist made two more. Galileo invented a thermoscope to investigate thermal phenomena and perfected the telescope by making a telescope out of it.

In fact, the thermoscope was the prototype of a thermometer. To invent it, Galileo had to radically rethink the then existing principles of cold and warmth.

About the invention of a telescope in Venice, we learned as early as 1609. Interested in this discovery, Galileo improved the device and adapted it to observe the starry sky. In early 1610, it helped the researcher to discover three satellites of the planet Jupiter. Watching the planet at different times, Galileo was able to understand that it was the satellites that were turning around her, and not the other way around. This was confirmed by the model of Kepler's system, the supporter of which was the scientist.

In addition, Galileo discovered the principle of relativity in dynamics. He formed the basis of the current theory of relativity. Galileo admitted erroneous views of Aristotle on the movement. Experienced scientist found out that motion (mechanical processes) is relative. That is, you can not talk about the movement without having found out in relation to which "reference body" it is. The very laws of motion are irrelevant. Therefore, having closed in the cabin of the ship, it is impossible to establish experimentally whether it moves rectilinearly and evenly or rests in place.

Astronomical discoveries

Thanks to the improved telescope, the scientist has new achievements. Galileo Galilei discovered the phases of Venus and was convinced of the existence of a huge number of stars of the Milky Way. Observing the movement of sunspots, the researcher realized that this process is due to the rotation of the sun. Studying the surface of the moon, Galileo discovered craters and mountains. All this he undermined confidence in the cosmogonic dogma about the immutability of the universe, having made a revolutionary revolution in astronomy. All his observations Galileo described in the work "Star Herald", which was published in 1610. This work he dedicated to the Tuscan duke named Cosimo de 'Medici.

Return to Florence

Soon the Duke invited Galileo to work in Florence. The scientist took the post of court philosopher and first mathematician of the university, who was not obliged to lecture. By that time Galileo's works had become known throughout Italy. They were admired by some, they were fiercely hated by others. True, at first, hostility was not manifested. In 1611, the astronomer was even invited to Rome, where he was enthusiastically greeted by the first persons of the city and the church. Galileo still had no idea about the secret surveillance he had installed behind him. The offensive of the adversaries intensified in 1613, when the Inquisition raised the question of the incompatibility of Holy Scripture with the discoveries of Galileo. The researcher gave an accusation for the detailed answer, in which he made an attempt to clearly distinguish between science and the church. In 1616, he went to Rome in order to defend his teaching.

The first process

The circumstances were very successful. This was due to Galileo's brilliant oratorical abilities. In addition, the scientist was helped by the Duke of Tuscany, writing letters to the Inquisition . The charges against Galileo were declared groundless. However, now a rather difficult task arose for scientists: the legalization of their scientific views.

Copernicus' system could not be openly defended, but the form of the dialogue-dispute was not forbidden. Therefore, Galileo wrote a manuscript "Dialogue on ebb and flow", in which three interlocutors discussed the two main systems of the world - Copernicus and Ptolemy. In 1630 he went with this book to Rome. It took the scientist two years to fight censorship in order to obtain permission to publish the manuscript. As a result, she went to Florence in August 1632.

The second process

The Inquisition immediately reacted to the publication of the book, read throughout Europe. At the end of 1632 Galileo was ordered to come to Rome. The scientist asked for a postponement because of his illness and old age. But his request was ignored. In early 1633 he was taken to Rome on a stretcher. For a month he lived with a Tuscan envoy, and then Galileo was expelled to the Inquisition prison. Further there were threats of torture, demands of abdication, interrogations and the most terrible for the researcher - the destruction of his works. To justify their "Dialogues" before the judges of Galileo failed. After the trial, the scientist was brought to the monastery of St. Minerva, forced to sign a renunciation and publicly repent, kneeling.

Last years

In 1637 Galileo Galileo, whose brief biography was covered in this article, lost his sight. But before that the scientist managed to finish the work devoted to his achievements in the field of mechanics. Work was called "Mathematical evidence and conversation." Unlike the "Dialogues" in this book, everything is set out as if a dispute with Aristotelian supporters is no longer relevant and it is necessary to approve new scientific views. Thanks to the efforts of Galileo's friends, the book was published during the lifetime of the researcher. He was very happy about it.

Galileo died in early 1642 at Villa Arcetri. In 1732, the ashes of a scientist were sent to Florence and buried next to Michelangelo.

This is the whole biography. Galileo Galilei forever inscribed his name in the history of science. Finally, here are a few facts about this researcher.

Interesting facts about Galileo Galilee

• In 1992, the Pope of Rome described the scientist as a brilliant physicist and expressed regret about the verdict he had been given in the past. This was the first public recognition of the Vatican about the rotation of the Earth around the Sun.
• The hydrostatic balance of Galileo is included in the top five of the most ingenious inventions that are used today.
• The phrase "And yet it spins!" The researcher never said. This myth was coined by an Italian journalist.