This great Italian scientist is probably more responsible for the development of the scientific method than anyone else. Galileo was born in Pisa, 1564. While young he studied at the University of Pisa but stagnated due to financial matters.
Even so in 1589 he was able to get a teaching position at the university. Several years later he joined the University of Padua and remained there until the year 1610. It was during this period that he created a heap of scientific discoveries.
His first important contribution in the field of mechanics. Aristotle taught that heavier objects fall faster than lighter objects, and generations of intellectuals swallowed up the opinion of this influential Greek philosopher.
However, Galileo decided to give it a try first, and through a series of experiments he concluded that Aristotle was wrong. The truth is, both heavy and light objects fall at the same velocity except to the extent that they decrease in speed due to the shifting of air.
(Incidentally, Galileo's habit of experimenting with throwing objects from the tower of Pisa seems to be unconscious).
Knowing this, Galileo took further steps. He carefully measured the distance the object fell at the specified time and found evidence that the distance traveled by the falling object was proportional to the number of square seconds it fell.
This discovery (which means uniform acceleration) has its own significance. Even more importantly, Galileo was able to compile the results of his discoveries with mathematical formulas. The wide use of mathematical formulas and mathematical methods is an essential feature of modern science.
Another great contribution of Galileo was his discovery of the law of inertia. Previously, people believed that objects moving on their own tended to slow down and completely stop if there was no force adding to the force to keep them moving.
But Galileo's experiments proved that this assumption was wrong. When a slowing force such as displacement can be eliminated, a moving object tends to remain in motion indefinitely.
This is an important principle which Newton has repeatedly emphasized and combined with his own system as the first law of motion one of the vital principles of science.
Galileo's most famous discoveries were in the field of astronomy. The theory of astrology in the early 1600's was in a very uncertain situation. There was a difference of opinion between the Sun-centric Copernican theorists and the older, earth-centric theorists.
Around 1609 Galileo expressed his belief that Copernicus was in the right, but at that time he did not know how to prove it. In 1609, Galileo heard the news that the telescope had been found in Holland.
Although Galileo heard only vaguely about the equipment, thanks to his genius he was able to create his own telescope. With this new device he turned his attention to the heavens and in just a year he has made a series of great discoveries.
He saw that the moon was not flat but lumpy, full of craters and mountains. Celestial bodies, he concluded, are not flat and smooth but irregular like the face of the earth.
He looked at the Milky Way and it seemed to him that it was not some kind of mist at all but composed of a large number of stars which with the naked eye seemed to be stirring and mingling with one another.
Then he targeted the planets and he saw Saturn like a bracelet circled. His telescope glanced at Jupiter and knew he had four moons circling the planet. Here it is clear to him that celestial bodies can revolve around a planet other than the earth.
His preoccupation was rampant: he looked at the sun and saw freckles on his face. It is true that other people have seen these spots before, but Galileo published his findings in a more effective way and put the problem of sunspots to the attention of the world of science.
Next, his research turned to the planet Venus, which has a period similar to that of the moon. This is part of the important evidence that confirms the Copernican theory that the earth and all other planets revolve around the sun.
Illustrations of Galileo's law of leverage are drawn from Galileo's book 'Mathematical Conversations and Demonstrations'.
The invention of the telescope and this series of discoveries threw Galileo onto the ladder of fame. Meanwhile, his support for Copernican theory caused him to come face to face with church circles who opposed him completely.
This church opposition reached its peak in 1616: he was ordered to refrain from spreading the Copernican hypothesis. Galileo had felt squashed by these restrictions for years. It wasn't until the Pope died in 1623 that he was replaced by those who admired Galileo.
The following year, the new Pope - Urban VIII - gave the hint, though vaguely, that Galileo's ban was no longer being enforced.
The next six years Galileo spent compiling his important scientific work Dialogue on the Two Important Systems of the World. This book is a great demonstration of the matters concerning support for Copernican theory and it was published in 1632 with special censorship permission from the church.
Even so, church authorities responded with outrage when the book was published and Galileo was immediately brought before the Religious Court in Rome for violating the 1616 ban.
But clearly, many church officials were not happy with the decision to convict a prominent scholar. Even under church law at the time, Galileo's case was questioned and he was only sentenced lightly.
Galileo was not thrown into prison but was simply subject to house arrest in his own house which was quite comfortable in a villa in Arcetri. The theory is that he should not receive guests, but in fact the rules are not implemented properly.
Another punishment against him was simply a plea for him to publicly retract his notion that the earth revolves around the sun. The 69-year-old scientist carried it out in front of an open court.
(There is a famous story that is not necessarily true that after Galileo retracted his opinion he looked down at the earth and whispered softly, "Look, he's still moving!"). In the city of Arcetri he continued his writing work in mechanics. Galileo died in 1642.
Galileo's contributions to scientific advancement have long been recognized. The significance of his role lies in scientific discoveries such as the law of inertia, the discovery of his telescope, observations of his astronomical field and his genius to prove the Copernican hypothesis.
And more important is its role in the development of scientific methodology. Generally, natural philosophers based their opinions on Aristotle's thoughts and made qualitative investigations and categorized phenomena.
Instead, Galileo established phenomena and made observations on a quantitative basis. The careful emphasis on quantitative calculations has since been the basis of scientific inquiry in later periods.
Galileo probably had more responsibility than anyone else for scientific inquiry with an empirical attitude. It was he, and not others, who first emphasized the importance of the demonstration of experiments, he rejected the notion that scientific questions can be decided together with power, whether that power is called the Church or the rule of Aristotle's argument.
He also balks at relying on intricate schemes instead of relying on solid experimental grounds. Shrewd scholars of the middle ages ramble on what must happen and why things happen, but Galileo insisted on the importance of conducting experiments to ascertain what actually happened.
His scientific view is clearly not mystical, and in this connection he is even more modern than his successors, such as Newton.
Galileo, can be considered a religious person. Despite the sentences imposed on him and his confession, he did not reject either religion or the church. What he rejected were the attempts of church officials to suppress his scientific inquiry efforts.
The next generation very arguably admired Gahleo as a symbol of rebellion against dogma and against authoritarian rule that tried to shackle freedom of thought. Its even more striking importance is the role it plays in laying the foundations of the modern scientific method.
source: http://media.isnet.org/iptek/100/Galileo.html