Galileo was born in 1564 in Italian city Pisa, in the family of a well-born, but impoverished nobleman Vincenzo Galilei, a prominent music theorist and lute player. Complete Galileo's name Galilee: Galileo di Vincenzo Bonaiuti de Galilei (Italian: Galileo di Vincenzo Bonaiuti de "Galilei). Representatives of the Galilean family have been mentioned in documents since the 14th century. Several of his direct ancestors were priors (members ruling council) of the Florentine Republic, and Galileo's great-great-grandfather, a well-known physician who also bore the name of Galileo, was elected head of the republic in 1445.

The family of Vincenzo Galilei and Giulia Ammannati had six children, but four managed to survive: Galileo (the eldest of the children), the daughters of Virginia, Livia and younger son Michelangelo, who later also gained fame as a lute composer. In 1572 Vincenzo moved to Florence, the capital of the Duchy of Tuscany. The Medici dynasty ruling there was known for its wide and constant patronage of the arts and sciences.

Little is known about Galileo's childhood. With early years the boy was attracted to art; throughout his life he carried a love of music and drawing, which he mastered perfectly. AT mature years the best artists of Florence - Cigoli, Bronzino and others - consulted with him about the issues of perspective and composition; Cigoli even claimed that it was to Galileo that he owed his fame. Based on the writings of Galileo, one can also conclude that he had a remarkable literary talent.

Galileo received his primary education in the nearby monastery of Vallombrosa. The boy was very fond of learning and became one of the best students in class. He considered the possibility of becoming a priest, but his father was against it.

In 1581, the 17-year-old Galileo, at the insistence of his father, entered the University of Pisa to study medicine. At the university, Galileo also attended lectures on geometry (previously he was completely unfamiliar with mathematics) and became so carried away by this science that his father began to fear that this would interfere with the study of medicine.

Galileo was a student for less than three years; during this time he managed to thoroughly familiarize himself with the works of ancient philosophers and mathematicians and earned a reputation among teachers as an indomitable debater. Even then he considered himself entitled to have own opinion for all scientific issues regardless of traditional authorities.

Probably during these years he became acquainted with the theory of Copernicus. Astronomical problems were then lively discussed, especially in connection with the just carried out calendar reform.

Galileo is rightfully considered the founder of not only experimental, but - to a large extent - theoretical physics. In his scientific method he consciously combined thoughtful experiment with its rational reflection and generalization, and personally gave impressive examples of such studies. Sometimes, due to a lack of scientific data, Galileo was wrong (for example, in questions about the shape of planetary orbits, the nature of comets, or the causes of tides), but in the overwhelming majority of cases, his method led to the goal. It is characteristic that Kepler, who had more complete and accurate data than Galileo, made correct conclusions when Galileo was wrong.

Fortunately, the fires of the Inquisition had already died down in Europe at that time, and the scientist escaped with only the status of a "prisoner of the Holy Inquisition."

short biography

Galileo Galilei (November 15, 1564 - January 8, 1642) went down in history as a brilliant astronomer and physicist. He is recognized as the founder of exact natural science.

Being a native of the Italian city of Pisa, he received his education there - at the famous University of Pisa, studying medical specialty. However, after reading the works of Euclid and Archimedes, the future scientist became so interested in mechanics and geometry that he immediately decided to leave the university, all his later life dedicated to the natural sciences.

In 1589 Galileo became a professor at the University of Pisa. A few more years later, he began working at the University of Padua, where he remained until 1610. He continued his further work as a court philosopher of the Duke Cosimo II de Medici, continuing to engage in research in the field of physics, geometry and astronomy.

Discoveries and legacy

His main discoveries are two principles of mechanics, which had a significant impact on the development of not only mechanics itself, but also physics as a whole. It's about about the fundamental Galilean principle of relativity for uniform and rectilinear motion, as well as the principle of constancy of the acceleration of gravity.

On the basis of the principle of relativity discovered by him, I. Newton created such a concept as inertial system reference. The second principle helped him develop the concepts of inert and heavy masses.

Einstein did manage to develop mechanical principle Galilee for everything physical processes, first of all into the light, drawing conclusions about the nature and laws of time and space. And by combining the second Galilean principle, which he interpreted as the principle of the equivalence of inertial forces to gravitational forces, with the first he created general theory relativity.

In addition to these two principles, Galileo owns the discovery of such laws:

Constant oscillation period;

Addition of movements;

inertia;

free fall;

Movement of the body on an inclined plane;

Movement of a body thrown at an angle.

In addition to these basic fundamental discoveries, the scientist was engaged in the invention and design of various applied devices. So, in 1609, using convex and concave lenses, he created a device that is optical system- an analogue of a modern spyglass. With the help of this hand-made device, he began to explore the night sky. And he was very successful in this, finalizing the device in practice and making a full-fledged telescope for that time.

Thanks to his own invention, Galileo soon managed to discover the phases of Venus, sunspots and many others. others

However, the inquisitive mind of the scientist did not stop at successful application telescope. In 1610, after experimenting and changing the distances between the lenses, he also invented the opposite version of the telescope - the microscope. The role of these two devices for modern science cannot be overestimated. He also invented the thermoscope (1592), an analogue of the modern thermometer. As well as many other useful devices and devices.

The astronomical discoveries of the scientist significantly influenced the scientific worldview in general. In particular, his conclusions and justifications resolved the long disputes between supporters of the teachings of Copernicus and supporters of the systems developed by Ptolemy and Aristotle. These obvious arguments showed that the Aristotelian and Ptolemaic system were wrong.

True, after such overwhelming evidence (1633), the scientist was immediately rushed to be recognized as a heretic. Fortunately, the fires of the Inquisition had already died down in Europe at that time, and Galileo got off only with the status of a “prisoner of the Holy Inquisition”, a ban on working in Rome (after and in Florence, as well as around it), as well as constant supervision of himself. But the scientist continued with regard to vigorous activity. And before the illness that caused the loss of vision, he managed to complete one more famous work"Conversations and mathematical proof concerning two new branches of science" (1637).

(1564-1642) - the great Italian physicist and astronomer, creator of the foundations of mechanics, fighter for advanced worldview. Galileo defended and developed the system (see), opposed church scholasticism, was the first to use a telescope to observe and study heavenly bodies, which marked the beginning of a new era in astronomy. Using a telescope, he proved that the moon has mountains and valleys. This finally shattered the idea of ​​the supposedly fundamental difference between "heavenly" and "earthly", refuted the religious legend about the special nature of the sky. Galileo discovered four satellites of Jupiter, proved the movement of Venus around the Sun and discovered the rotation of the Sun around its axis (by moving dark spots on the Sun). Galileo further stated that Milky Way there is a cluster of stars.

He proved the possibility of defining geographical longitude on the sea but the position of the satellites of Jupiter, which had a direct practical value for sailing. Galileo is the founder of dynamics. They established the law of inertia, the law free fall bodies, this is the law of addition; with the help of these laws he decided whole line tasks. He discovered the laws of pendulum oscillation, studied the motion of a body thrown at an angle to the horizon. In the development of ideas about space and time played big role the so-called principle of relativity of Galileo - the position that the uniform and rectilinear motion physical system bodies does not affect the processes occurring in this system (for example, the movement of the ship relative to the earth and the movement of bodies on the ship).

In the knowledge of the laws of nature, Galileo demanded a specific pilot study. Experience he considered the only source of knowledge. Despite the fact that his materialism, like the materialism of all philosophers of that time, was mechanistic, Galileo case studies and the struggle for scientific, experimental methods analysis of nature, as well as his general philosophical views (the recognition of objectivity, the infinity of the world, the eternity of matter, etc.) made a valuable contribution to the development of materialist philosophy.

The only criterion Truth he considered sensory experience, practice. Contrasting Scripture Scientific research of nature, he declared that no saying of Scripture has such a coercive force as any natural phenomenon has. For the struggle against the church, against scholasticism and obscurantism, Galileo, already at an advanced age, was persecuted by the Inquisition. JV Stalin described Galileo as one of the courageous fighters of science, innovators who boldly blaze new trails in science. The most important works Galileo: "Dialogue about two major systems world of Ptolemaic and Copernican" (1632; Soviet edition- 1948) and "Conversations and mathematical proofs concerning two New branches of science related to mechanics and local movement" (1638; Soviet edition - 1934).

Galileo Galilei short biography Italian physicist, mechanic, astronomer, philosopher is described in this article.

Galileo Galilei biography briefly

Born February 15, 1564 in the Italian city of Pisa in the family of a well-born, but impoverished nobleman. From the age of 11 he was brought up in the monastery of Vallombros. At the age of 17 he left the monastery and entered the University of Pisa on Faculty of Medicine. He became a university professor, and later headed the department of mathematics at the University of Padua, where for 18 years he created a series of outstanding works in mathematics and mechanics.

Soon he became the most famous lecturer at the university, and students were lining up to get into his classes. It was at this time that he wrote the treatise Mechanics.

Galileo described his first discoveries with the telescope in his work The Starry Herald. The book was a sensational success. He built a telescope that magnifies objects three times, placed it on the San Marco tower in Venice, allowing everyone to look at the moon and stars.

Following this, he invented a telescope, which increased its power 11 times compared to the first. He described his observations in the work "Star Messenger".

In 1637, the scientist lost his sight. Until that time, he had been working hard on his last book"Conversations and Mathematical Proofs Concerning Two New Branches of Science Relating to Mechanics and Local Motion". In this work, he summarized all his observations and achievements in the field of mechanics.

Galileo's teaching about the structure of the world contradicted Holy Scripture, and the scientist long time was persecuted by the Inquisition. Promoting the theories of Copernicus, he forever fell out of favor catholic church. He was captured by the Inquisition and, under threat of death at the stake, renounced his views. He was forever forbidden to write or distribute his work in any way.

(1564 —1642)

The name of this man caused both admiration and hatred of his contemporaries. Nevertheless, he entered the history of world science not only as a follower of Giordano Bruno, but also as one of the greatest scientists of the Italian Renaissance.

He was born on February 15, 1564 in the city of Pisa into a noble but impoverished family. His father Vincenzo Galilei was a talented musician and composer, but art did not provide a livelihood, and the father of the future scientist earned money by trading in cloth.

Until the age of eleven, Galileo lived in Pisa and studied at regular school and then moved to Florence with his family. Here he continued his education in a Benedictine monastery, where he studied grammar, arithmetic, rhetoric and other subjects.

At the age of seventeen, Galileo entered the University of Pisa and began to prepare for the profession of a doctor. At the same time, out of curiosity, he read works on mathematics and mechanics, in particular, Euclid and Archimedes.The latter later Galileo always called his teacher.

Due to cramped financial situation the young man had to leave the University of Pisa and return to Florence. At home, Galileo took up in-depth study mathematics and physics, which he was very interested in. In 1586 he wrote his first scientific work"Small hydrostatic balance”, which brought him some fame and allowed him to get acquainted with several
scientists. Under the patronage of one of them, the author of the Textbook of Mechanics, Guido Ubaldo del Monte, in 1589 Galilei received the chair of mathematics at the University of Pisa. At twenty-five, he became a professor at the place where he studied, but did not complete his education.

Galileo taught students mathematics and astronomy, which he expounded, of course, according to Ptolemy. It was to this time that the experiments that he set, throwing various bodies with an oblique leaning tower of pisa to check if they fall in accordance with the teachings of Aristotle - heavy faster than light ones. The answer turned out to be negative.

In On Motion (1590), Galileo criticized the Aristotelian doctrine of the fall of bodies. In it, among other things, he wrote: "If reason and experience coincide in something, it does not matter to me that this contradicts the opinion of the majority."

The establishment by Galileo of the isochronism of small oscillations of the pendulum belongs to the same period - the independence of the period of its oscillations from the amplitude. He came to this conclusion while watching the swinging of the chandeliers in the Pisa Cathedral and noting the time by the beating pulse on his hand... Guido del Monte highly valued Galileo as a mechanic and called him "Archimedes of modern times".

Galileo's criticism of the physical ideas of Aristotle set against him numerous supporters of the ancient Greek scientist. The young professor became very uncomfortable in Pisa, and he accepted an invitation to take the chair of mathematics at the famous University of Padua.

The Padua period is the most fruitful and happy in the life of Galileo. Here he found a family, linking his fate with Marina Gamba, who bore him two daughters: Virginia (1600) and Livia (1601); later a son, Vincenzo, was born (1606).

Since 1606, Galileo has been engaged in astronomy. In March 1610, his work entitled "The Starry Herald" was published. It is unlikely that so much sensational astronomical information was reported in one work, moreover, literally during several night observations in January - February of the same 1610.

Having learned about the invention of the telescope and having a good workshop of his own, Galileo makes several samples of telescopes, constantly improving their quality. As a result, the scientist managed to make a telescope with a magnification of 32 times. On the night of January 7, 1610, he points the telescope to the sky. What he saw there was a lunar landscape, mountains. Chains and peaks that cast shadows, valleys and seas - already led to the idea that the Moon is similar to the Earth - a fact that did not testify in favor of religious dogmas and Aristotle's teachings about the special position of the Earth among celestial bodies.

Huge white stripe in the sky - the Milky Way - when viewed through a telescope, it was clearly divided into individual stars. Near Jupiter, the scientist noticed small stars (first three, then one more), which changed their position relative to the planet the very next night. Galileo, with his kinematic perception of natural phenomena, did not need to think long - before him were the satellites of Jupiter! - another argument against the exclusive position of the Earth. Galileo discovered the existence of four moons of Jupiter. Later, Galilei discovered the phenomenon of Saturn (although he did not understand what was the matter) and discovered the phases of Venus.

Watching the sunspots move across solar surface, he found that the Sun also rotates around its axis. Based on observations, Galileo concluded that rotation around an axis is characteristic of all celestial bodies.

Observing the starry sky, he became convinced that the number of stars is much greater than can be seen with the naked eye. So Galileo confirmed Giordano Bruno's idea that the expanses of the Universe are endless and inexhaustible. Galileo then concluded that heliocentric system world, proposed by Copernicus, is the only true one.

The telescopic discoveries of Galileo were met by many with distrust, even with hostility, but the supporters of the Copernican doctrine, and above all Kepler, who immediately published the Conversation with the Starry Messenger, reacted to them with delight, seeing in this confirmation of the correctness of their convictions.

The Star Messenger brought the scientist European fame. Tuscan
Duke Cosimo II de' Medici invited Galileo to take the position of court mathematician. She promised a comfortable existence, free time for science, and the scientist accepted the offer. In addition, this allowed Galileo to return to his homeland, to Florence.

Now, having a powerful patron in the person of the Grand Duke of Tuscany, Galileo more and more boldly begins to propagate the teachings of Copernicus. Clerical circles are alarmed. The authority of Galileo as a scientist is high, his opinion is listened to. So, many will decide, the doctrine of the motion of the Earth is not just one of the hypotheses of the structure of the world, which simplifies astronomical calculations.

The anxiety of the ministers of the church about the triumphant spread of the teachings of Copernicus is well explained by the letter of Cardinal Roberto Bellarmino to one of his correspondents: this is well said and contains no danger; and this is sufficient for mathematics; but when they start
to say that the sun actually stands at the center of the world and that it
only rotates around itself, but does not move from east to west, and that
The earth is in the third heaven and high speed revolves around the Sun, then this thing is very dangerous, and not only because it irritates all philosophers and learned theologians, but also because it harms St. faith, since the falsity of Holy Scripture follows from it.

In Rome, denunciations against Galileo rained down. In 1616, at the request of the Congregation of the Holy Index (an ecclesiastical institution in charge of permits and prohibitions), eleven prominent theologians examined the teachings of Copernicus and came to the conclusion that it was false. Based on this conclusion, the heliocentric doctrine was declared heretical, and the book of Copernicus "On the Conversion celestial spheres» is included in the index of prohibited books. At the same time, all books that supported this theory were banned - those that existed and those that would be written in the future.

Galileo was summoned from Florence to Rome, and in a mild but categorical
form demanded to stop the propaganda of heretical ideas about
arrangement of the world. The exhortation was carried out by the same Cardinal Bellarmino.
Galileo was forced to comply. He did not forget how persistence in "heresy" ended for Giordano Bruno. Moreover, as a philosopher, he knew that "heresy" today becomes truth tomorrow.

AT 1623 Galileo's friend becomes pope under the name of Urban VIII
Cardinal Maffeo Barberini. The scientist hurries to Rome. He hopes to achieve the abolition of the prohibition of the "hypothesis" of Copernicus, but in vain. The pope explains to Galileo that now, when the Catholic world is torn apart by heresy, it is unacceptable to question the truth of the holy faith.

Galileo returns to Florence and continues to work on a new book, without losing hope of someday publishing his work. In 1628, he visits Rome again to reconnoitre the situation and find out the attitude higher hierarchs churches to the teachings of Copernicus. In Rome, he meets the same intolerance, but it does not stop him. Galileo finishes the book and in 1630 presents it to the Congregation.

Consideration of the work of Galileo in censorship lasted two years, then a ban followed. Then Galileo decided to publish his work in his native Florence. He managed to skillfully deceive the local censors, and in 1632 the book was published.

It was called "Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief Systems of the World—Ptolemaic and Copernican" and was written as dramatic work. For censorship reasons, Galileo is forced to exercise caution: the book is written in the form of a dialogue between two supporters of Copernicus and one adherent of Aristotle and Ptolemy, and each of the interlocutors tries to understand the point of view of the other, assuming its justice. In the preface, Galileo is forced to declare that since the teachings of Copernicus are contrary to the holy faith and forbidden, he is not his supporter at all, and in the book the theory of Copernicus is only discussed, not affirmed. But neither the preface nor the form of presentation could hide the truth: the dogmas of Aristotelian physics and Ptolemaic astronomy suffer such an obvious collapse here, and the theory of Copernicus triumphs so convincingly that, contrary to what was said in the preface, Galileo's personal attitude to the teachings of Copernicus and his conviction in the justice of this teaching did not raise doubts.

True, it follows from the exposition that Galileo still believed in uniform and Roundabout Circulation planets around the Sun, i.e. failed to evaluate and did not accept the Keplerian laws of planetary motion. He also disagreed with Kepler's assumptions about the causes of the tides (the attraction of the moon!), instead developing his own theory of this phenomenon, which turned out to be incorrect.

The church authorities were furious. Sanctions followed immediately. The sale of Dialogue was banned, and Galileo was summoned to Rome for trial. In vain did the seventy-year-old elder present the testimony of three doctors that he was ill. It was reported from Rome that if he did not come voluntarily, he would be brought by force, in shackles. And the aged scientist went on his way,

“I arrived in Rome,” writes Galileo in one of his letters, “on February 10
1633 and relied on the mercy of the Inquisition and the holy father .. First
I was locked up in the Trinity castle on the mountain, and the next day I was visited by
Commissioner of the Inquisition and took me away in his carriage.

On the way he asked me different questions and expressed the desire that I stop the scandal caused in Italy by my discovery concerning the movement of the earth ... To all mathematical proofs that I could oppose to him, he answered me with words from scripture"The earth has been and will be immovable forever and ever."

The investigation dragged on from April to June 1633, and on June 22, in the same church, almost at the same place where Giordano Bruno heard the death sentence, Galileo, on his knees, pronounced the text of the renunciation offered to him. Under the threat of torture, Galileo, refuting the accusation that he had violated the ban on propagating the teachings of Copernicus, was forced to admit that he "unconsciously" contributed to the confirmation of the correctness of this teaching, and publicly renounce it. In doing so, the humiliated Galileo understood that the process started by the Inquisition stop the triumphal procession of the new teaching, he himself needed time and opportunity to further development ideas laid down in the "Dialogue" so that they become the beginning classical system world in which there would be no place for church dogmas. This process caused irreparable damage to the Church.

Galileo did not give up, although in last years During his life he had to work in the most difficult conditions. At his villa in Arcetri, he was under house arrest (under the constant supervision of the Inquisition). Here is what he writes, for example, to his friend in Paris: “In Arcetri, I live under the strictest ban not to travel to the city and not to receive many friends at the same time, nor to communicate with those whom I receive except as extremely
with restraint ... And it seems to me that ... my current prison will be replaced
only for the long and narrow one that awaits us all.”

For two years in prison, Galileo wrote "Conversations and Mathematical Proofs ...", where, in particular, he sets out the foundations of dynamics. When the book was finished, the entire Catholic world (Italy, France, Germany, Austria) refused to print it.

In May 1636, the scientist negotiates the publication of his work in Holland, and then secretly forwards the manuscript there. "Conversations" is published in Leiden in July 1638, and the book reaches Arcetri almost a year later - in June 1639. By that time, the blinded Galileo (years of hard work, age and the fact that the scientist often looked at the Sun without good light filters affected) could only feel his offspring with his hands.

Only in November 1979, Pope John Paul II officially admitted that the Inquisition in 1633 made a mistake, forcing the scientist to renounce the theory of Copernicus by force.

This was the first and only case in the history of the Catholic Church of a public recognition of the injustice of condemning a heretic, committed 337 years after his death.