The Italian astronomer and physicist Galileo Galilei is known as one of the greatest scientific minds. During his lifetime, however, he was persecuted by the Catholic Church for his belief that the Sun, not the Earth, was at the center of the universe. Find out more about the iconic scientist, including whether he invented the telescope, what punishment he received after being tried by the Roman Inquisition, and how his middle finger ended up in a museum.

He was a college dropout

Galileo, whose father was a lute player and musical theorist, was born in Pisa, Italy. Despite the fact that his father was from a noble family, he was not rich. At the age of ten, Galileo began his studies at a monastery near Florence and intended to become a monk. However, his father was against his son leading a religious life, so he took Galileo away from the monastery. At 16, Galileo entered the University of Pisa to study medicine at his father's insistence. Instead, however, he became interested in mathematics and focused on it. Galileo left the university in 1585 without a degree. He continued his mathematical studies on his own and earned money by giving private lessons, then returned in 1589 to the University of Pisa to teach mathematics there.

He didn't invent the telescope

Galileo did not invent the telescope - this discovery is attributed to the Dutch lens maker Hans Lippershey. However, he was the first person to systematically use optical instruments to study the sky. The Lippershey telescope patent application from 1608 is the earliest, but the Dutch government decided that the telescope was too easy to copy, especially since another scientist had already demonstrated a similar device a year earlier, so the patent was denied. In 1609, Galileo learned about the device and developed his own version, greatly improving the design. In the fall of that year, he pointed a telescope at the moon and found that it was covered with craters and mountains - thereby debunking the common belief that the surface of the moon is smooth.

His daughters were nuns

Galileo had three children with a woman named Marina Gamba, whom he never married. In 1613, he sent his two daughters, Virginia, born in 1600, and Livia, born a year later, to a monastery near Florence, where they remained for the rest of their lives, despite their father's troubles with the Catholic Church. Galileo maintained a close relationship with his eldest daughter, known as Sister Mary Celeste. In the convent she sewed and baked for him when she was relieved of her tasks. He, in turn, organized the supply of food and other necessary things to the impoverished monastery. Galileo's son Vincenzo, born in 1606, studied medicine at the University of Pisa, married and lived in Florence.

He was sentenced to life imprisonment

The heliocentric theory of how the universe functions has seriously challenged the widely held belief that the Earth is the center of the solar system. In 1616, the Catholic Church declared the theory heretical because it was seen as contradicting certain lines from the Bible. Galileo received permission from the Catholic Church to study the ideas of Copernicus, as long as he did not promote or defend them. In 1632 he published his famous book, which presented a discussion between Ptolemy and Copernicus. The book was seen as supporting the ideas of Copernicus, resulting in Galileo being tried by the Roman Inquisition a year later. He was found guilty of heresy, forced to publicly repent, and sentenced to life in prison.

He spent his final years under house arrest

Although Galileo was sentenced to life imprisonment, his sentence was soon changed to house arrest. He lived his last years in a villa in his hometown of Arcetri, near Florence. He could not meet friends and publish books, but nevertheless he was visited by famous people from all over Europe, such as the philosopher Thomas Hobbes and the poet John Milton. In addition, he managed to transfer the manuscript of a new work, which was published in 1638 - at the same time Galileo was completely blind. He died on January 8, 1642 at the age of 77.

His middle finger is in the museum

After his death, Galileo was buried in the aisle of the church of Santa Croce in Florence. Almost a century later, in 1737, when the remains of the scientist were transported to the burial place of honor in the Basilica of Santa Croce, three fingers, a vertebra and a tooth were removed from the body. Two fingers and a tooth of Galileo were kept by one of his admirers - the body parts of the scientist were passed down from generation to generation, at the beginning of the 19th century it seemed that they were lost forever, until they showed up at an auction in 2009, where they were bought by one of the collectors. Meanwhile, the third finger, which is the middle finger of the right hand, was part of the display of many Italian museums. The stolen vertebra ended up at the University of Padua, where Galileo taught from 1592 to 1610.

NASA named spaceship after him

In 1989, NASA and a team from Germany launched a spacecraft named Galileo. Arriving at Jupiter in 1995, the spacecraft became the first to study the planet and its moons for an extended period of time.

The Vatican didn't admit that Galileo was right until 1992.

In 1979, Pope John Paul II initiated an investigation into the condemnation of Galileo by the Catholic Church. Thirteen years later and 359 years after the trial of the Inquisition, the Pope closed the investigation and issued an official apology, in which he acknowledged the mistakes made by the judges during the trial.

The middle of the 16th century ... The Renaissance is coming to an end, Europe is on the threshold of the New Age ... Ahead of the scientific revolution, the greatest discoveries and inventions that will turn the worldview, if not all, then the majority ... In the meantime, only the first uncertain steps are being taken in changing the picture of the world. Everyone still believes that the Sun revolves around the Earth, which is the center of the universe. The Bible points to this, these are the foundations of faith.

But the first signals have already sounded that this theory is wrong. Nicolaus Copernicus has spoken. And his followers appeared, who were not afraid to oppose the almighty Church and its Inquisition. Fires were lit all over Europe to burn out this heresy. After all, if everyone believes, then it turns out that the Popes and his conclave have been deceiving for so many centuries? And the Holy Scripture is also false? Oh, how unprofitable this is for Rome, what an undermining of the authority of the Catholic faith. And how easy it is to uproot this idea, there is no evidence, only assumptions and allegations. And no one knows that very soon a boy will be born who will finally destroy the geocentric theory. And his name is Galileo Galilei.

First steps to glory

Homeland of Galileo Galilei - Italy, a country that gave the world more than one genius. On February 15, 1564, in the Italian city of Pisa, a child was born into an impoverished aristocratic family, who was to perpetuate his name in world history. They named him Galileo Galilei. One of the greatest minds of mankind, unrecognized in its time and fully justified and recognized by the Catholic Church only in 1992 of the last century. His life and activities are studied in detail by historians and scientists. More than one generation of schoolchildren and students write abstracts and reports on the topic "Galileo Galilei".

The father of the future scientist, Vincenzo Galilei, was a famous lute player and music theorist, who made a significant contribution to the development of such a genre as opera. Mother Julia took care of the house and raised the children. There were four of them, the oldest was Galileo. From early childhood, the boy showed talents in many areas of knowledge - he drew well, showed literary abilities, easily studied foreign languages ​​and exact sciences. He inherited his love for music from his father. But the boy dreamed of devoting his life to science.

First years of study went to the monastery school. Galileo even wanted to become a priest, but did not dare to go against the will of his father. At the age of 17, he entered the University of Pisa at the Faculty of Medicine, as his father dreamed of seeing his son as a famous doctor. And it was here that a complete revolution in the worldview of Galileo Galilei took place - attending mathematical courses in geometry and algebra changed his future fate. At the same time, he first encountered the Copernican theory of heliocentrism and was carried away by it. From this acquaintance, the philosophy of Galileo was formed, which he followed until the end of his days.

A talented and promising student could not continue his studies at the university and get a doctoral degree. The financial situation of the family was so deplorable that, after studying for three years, Galileo was forced to return home. But during this time he managed to make one of his inventions - a hydrostatic balance, thereby drawing attention to himself and acquiring a patron. The Marquis Guidobaldo del Monto persuaded the Duke of Tuscany to grant Galileo a paid scientific position.

Activities at the university

In 1589 he returned to the University of Pisa to teach mathematics.. Here he not only teaches, but also engages in research work in the field of mechanics. In 1592 he moved to the University of Padua, where, in addition to mathematics and mechanics, he turned his attention to astronomy. His lectures were very popular among students. The authority of the scientist rose to an unprecedented height not only among colleagues. He was also appreciated by the government, providing full support in all endeavors. This is the most fruitful period in his work. Here began to be born his basic principles and views.

Astronomical discoveries

In 1604, a new star was discovered, and this was the impetus for Galileo to seriously engage in astronomy. Shortly before this, a spotting scope was invented in Holland. Having become interested in this device, Galileo in 1609 first designed a telescope, which allowed him to observe the star bodies himself and make a number of important discoveries that played an important role in his later life. What were these discoveries?

1. Observing the Moon, the scientist for the first time pointed out that this is a planet that can be compared with the Earth. There is a landscape - mountains, plains and lunar craters.
2. They discovered the satellites of Jupiter, which he mistakenly took for independent planets.
3. The Milky Way appeared not to be a continuous strip that can be observed with the naked eye. Through a telescope, Galileo saw that it was a huge cluster of individual stars.
4. I saw spots on the sun. Long-term observation of this star allowed Galileo to prove the Copernican theory - it is the Earth that revolves around the Sun, and not vice versa. In addition, he proved that the Sun, like our planet, rotates around its axis.
5. At Saturn I was able to see the environment, which I counted as planets. Later it was proved that these are rings.
6. Pointed out that Venus is closer to the Sun and it has its own phases of rotation.

He published all his observations in his book The Starry Messenger, which attracted the close attention of the church and the Inquisition. After all, he gave direct evidence of the heliocentric theory, which went against the accepted dogmas of the Catholic faith. Periodically, anonymous denunciations were written against Galileo, but thanks to high patrons in the government and friends among the priests, they managed not to be made public.

Conflict with the Catholic Church

In 1611 in the wake of his success, Galileo went to Rome to personally try to prove that the teachings of Copernicus did not threaten the power and authority of the Church. Initially, he was treated with cordiality. He was honored with a meeting with the Pope and his cardinals, to whom he demonstrated the telescope and its capabilities. But after the publication of the book "Letters on Sunspots" in 1613, an open confrontation with the Inquisition began. In the winter of 1615, the first case was brought against him, and a year later, during which Galileo was under supervision in Rome, the doctrine of heliocentrism was officially recognized as heresy, and the scientist’s book was included in the banned list.

After this decision, which caused a lot of discontent among the astronomer, he was allowed to return to Florence. Indignant and piously believing that he was right, Galileo did not abandon Copernicanism and did not give up his attempts to prove that his theory was correct. Only he did it already carefully, criticizing the theory of Aristotle.

Over the next 16 years he writes the book "Dialogue on the two systems of the world - Ptolemaic and Copernican", in parallel openly engaged in another type of activity - research in the field of mechanics.

And in 1630, the main work of Galileo was completed. To get it published, the author had to wait several years and go to the trick, writing in the preface that the book was about exposing Copernicanism. It is written in the form of a dialogue between an ardent supporter of the theory of Copernicus, a neutral scientist and a follower of Ptolemy. It provides indisputable evidence that the Earth is not the center of the world and revolves around the Sun.

By that time, Galileo had practically no supporters left in Rome. In addition, in 1623 he attracted the attention of the Jesuits and entered into conflict with them. This played a decisive role in his future fate. Already two months after the release, the entire edition of the book was withdrawn from sale, and a denunciation was written against Galileo to the Inquisition. Plus, the Pope was very angry with the scientist, recognizing himself in one of the heroes. Although before accession to the Holy Throne, he was among the friends and supporters of Galileo.

In February 1633 the scientist was summoned to Rome and taken into custody. The trial of heresy began. The process did not take long - only 18 days. He was threatened with the fate of Giordano Bruno, and in order to avoid the fire, Galileo, in the presence of the Pope and the cardinals, openly renounced his teaching according to the text provided to him. There is no direct evidence in history that this confession was forced under torture. Only indirect references to this were found in the letters.

As a punishment for Galileo, imprisonment was chosen. But given his advanced age and illness, it was replaced by lifelong residence in his homeland, in a villa near the city of Arcetri, without the right to leave home and visit friends.

The place for the life of the prisoner was chosen for a reason. The villa was not far from the monastery where the two daughters of Galileo had gone. This was a forced measure, since for those born in an unmarried union, according to the laws of that time, there was no other choice. The eldest and beloved daughter did not leave her sick father until her death in 1634.

Despite such brutal conditions of detention and constant surveillance by the Inquisition, Galileo did not leave scientific activity. In addition, in the last years of his life he was practically blind and continued to work with the support of his students. In 1638, his work "Conversations and Mathematical Proofs of the Two Systems of the World" was published in Holland, in which the foundations of kinematics and the strength of materials were laid. It was this work that was subsequently taken as the basis by Newton.

Death came on January 8, 1642. The funeral took place in the same villa where Galileo lived. The Pope did not give his permission for the burial of his remains in the family crypt, as the inventor himself wanted. Only in 1737 he was solemnly reburied in the Basilica of Santa Croce, next to the tomb of Michelangelo. A few decades later, Pope Benedict 14 issued a decree removing Galileo's works from the list of banned works. The full rehabilitation of his name in the eyes of the Catholic Church took place in 1992 by order of Pope John Paul II.

Other achievements of Galileo

• Brought to the forefront in research the practical method, not the theoretical one.
• Became the founder of experimental mechanics and the principle of relativity.
• He substantiated the laws of falling and the movement of thrown objects along a parabola.
• Invented hydrostatic balances, thermometer, telescope, compasses and microscope.
• Introduced the concept of a new science of the resistance of materials.

Myths about Galilee

The life of the greatest scientist of all times and peoples overgrown with various legends and myths which have not been confirmed in historical chronicles.

Physicist and mechanic Galileo Galilei truly was a star of the first magnitude in the scientific firmament.

Galileo was an ardent supporter of the heliocentric system of the world, and his scientific honesty almost brought the famous astronomer to the stake.

short biography

Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) was born in Pisa (Italy) into a noble but impoverished family. His father Vincenzo Galilei was a musician and composer, but art did not provide a livelihood, and he had to deal with the cloth trade.

Until the age of eleven, Galileo lived in Pisa and studied at, and then moved with his family to Florence. Here he continued his education in a Benedictine monastery, and at the age of seventeen he entered the University of Pisa to eventually become a doctor.

However, due to poverty, he had to interrupt his studies and return to Florence. There Galileo took up the study of mathematics and physics.

In 1586, he wrote his first scientific paper, and three years later he headed the department at the University of Pisa, where he taught mathematics and astronomy.

It was then that he performed the famous experiments when Galileo threw various objects from the inclined Leaning Tower of Pisa to check whether light bodies fall faster than heavy ones, as Aristotle claimed.

Aristotle's opinion was refuted, but this caused dissatisfaction among the university professors, and the scientist had to move to the department of mathematics in Padua.

"Star Messenger"

This was the most fruitful period in Galilee. From 1606 he took up astronomy in depth.

With the help of a telescope he built with a magnification of 32 times, Galileo discovered mountain ranges and peaks on the Moon, and this led him to think that the Moon was similar to, which again contradicted Aristotle, who claimed that the Earth is a very special celestial body.

At the same time, Galileo established that the Sun rotates around its axis and concluded that rotation around the axis is characteristic of all celestial bodies, and the heliocentric system of the world proposed by Copernicus is the only true one.

In March 1610, his work entitled "The Starry Herald" was published, which brought European fame to the scientist. The Duke of Tuscany Cosimo II Medici offered Galileo to take the position of court mathematician, and the scientist accepted this offer.

However, six years later, eleven prominent theologians examined the teachings of Copernicus and came to the conclusion that it was false. It was declared heretical, and Copernicus' book On the Revolution of the Celestial Spheres was banned.

Galileo was summoned from Florence to Rome and demanded to stop spreading heretical ideas about the structure of the world. The scientist, despite the intercession of the patron duke, was forced to obey.

Court and sentence

And yet, in 1632, Galileo's book "Dialogue on the two main systems of the world - and Copernican" was published.

The church immediately placed a ban on her, and the astronomer himself was summoned to Rome for trial in the court of the Inquisition. The investigation went on for several years.

On June 22, 1633, in the same church where the death sentence of Giordano Bruno was announced, Galileo, on his knees, pronounced the text of the renunciation offered to him.

However, this was not the end of the matter. The remaining years of his life he had to work in the most difficult conditions, in fact, in prison and under the constant supervision of the Inquisition, although his own villa in the town of Arcetri served as a prison.

In two years, Galileo wrote one of his most profound works, Conversations and Mathematical Proofs, in which he laid out the foundations of dynamics. The book was published in Holland, but reached Arcetri only three years later, when Galileo became completely blind and could only feel his latest offspring.

The trial of the scientist was "demonstrative". He made it clear to all freethinkers that even such a luminary as Galileo was forced to bow before church dogmas and authorities.

Galileo died on January 8, 1642, and in 1992 Pope John Paul II officially admitted that the Inquisition in 1633 made a mistake by forcing the scientist to renounce the theory of Copernicus, and rehabilitated Galileo.

Date of birth: February 15, 1564
Date of death: January 8, 1642
Birthplace: Pisa, Tuscany region, Duchy of Florence, Italy

Galileo Galilei- scientist, physicist and astronomer. Galileo Galilei, who owns, perhaps, one of the most important discoveries in the field of astronomy, is less known for his achievements in the fields of mathematics, mechanics and philosophy.

Born February 15, 1564 in Pisa (Italian Duchy of Florence) in a poor noble family. His father, Vincenzo, was a musical theorist and lute player. Mother's name was Julia. The family was large: six children, and Galileo was the oldest of them.

Galileo studied at the monastery of Vallombrosa. Ros exemplary, was the best in academic performance in his class. As soon as he graduated, he seriously thought about the future of the priest, but his father was categorically against it.

At the age of 17 he entered the University of Pisa. Interested in mathematics. Studying medicine. However, after 3 years of training, his father finds himself in a very poor financial condition and the family can no longer pay for Galileo's tuition. For especially talented students, there was a benefit that allowed them not to pay tuition. They applied for it, but were flatly refused. Galileo never received his degree. Returned to Florence.

Galileo was very lucky, and he met a true connoisseur of research and scientific discoveries. It was the Marquis Guidobaldo del Monte. They were friends and the marquis sponsored many of Galileo's discoveries. It was thanks to the Marquis that in 1589 Galileo returned to the University of Pisa, but now as a professor of mathematical sciences. In 1590 he wrote a scientific work that turned the world of physics upside down. It was a treatise on motion.

In 1591, his father dies, and the young scientist takes full responsibility for the family on his shoulders. A year later, he quits his first job and goes to the Venetian University of Padua, where Galileo was offered a decent wage for his work. In addition to mathematics, here he teaches astronomy and mechanics. The students were happy to attend his lectures, and the Venetian government constantly orders various kinds of technical devices from him. He corresponds with Kepler and other authorities from the world of science and technology.

His next treatise is Mechanics. Galileo also constructs the world's first telescope, which changes the whole perception of the environment. A serious step in science and further research. At that time, it was a real sensation, and all wealthy people began to massively order telescopes for themselves, because Galileo's stories about the celestial space seen through a telescope looked like a fantastic fiction, and everyone wanted to see it with their own eyes.

Unfortunately, he did not make much money from this, as he was forced to give money as a dowry when his two sisters got married. Galileo finds himself in debt and accepts an invitation to work as an adviser to the Tuscan court from Duke Cosimo II de Medici. So, in the life of a scientist, a turning point comes not at all for the better, as he moves from Venice, in which the Inquisition was powerless, to a less hospitable Florence.

In general, the move to Florence itself did not promise any danger. The work of an adviser was very quiet and calm. But in 1611 the scientist leaves Florence and travels to Rome in order to intercede for Copernicus. He is trying to convince the Pope that the discoveries of Copernicus are a very important and useful contribution to the development of mankind. The priests organized a warm welcome, even approved the recent invention of Galileo - his sensational telescope.

After 2 years, Galileo continues to defend the point of view of Copernicus. He publishes several of his writings, which do not covertly hint that the church is intended to save the soul, and not to make or stop scientific discoveries. This greatly agitated the Roman clergy.

In 1615, Rome openly accuses Galileo of heresy, and a year later completely prohibits heliocentrism. Instead of not heating up the situation, he releases another mockery, after which the Inquisition begins a legal case against Galileo Galilei.

In 1633, the scientist was arrested and put on trial. The death penalty was coming, but it was canceled, given the fact that Galileo is an old and sick man who voluntarily renounced his own discoveries. Most likely, he was tortured to make him do it. One way or another, soon the old scientist was sent to Archetri (on its territory there was a monastery with daughters). The last years of Galileo were spent there under house arrest.

Throughout his life, Galileo was so busy with his discoveries that he practically did not devote time to his personal life. He did not even marry Marina Gamba, although she bore him a son and two daughters.

On January 8, 1642, the world famous scientist died, who made a real revolution in the world of astronomy and physics. He was not properly buried, but in 1737 his ashes were transferred to the Basilica of Santa Croce.

Achievements of Galileo Galilei:

The first astronomer who invented and used the telescope, making discoveries completely unknown at that time. He saw spots on the Sun, mountains on the Moon, moons of Jupiter, stars in the Milky Way, the rotation of the Sun, the phases of Venus, and much more.
He preached the heliocentric system of the world.
He founded experimental physics, laid the foundation for classical mechanics.
Invented not only the telescope, but also the thermometer, microscope, compasses and hydrostatic balances.
Described the law of indestructibility of matter.

Dates from the biography of Galileo Galilei:

1564 - birth.
From 1581 to 1585 - studying at the University of Pisa.
1586 - Invented the hydrostatic balance.
1589 - returns as a professor at the University of Pisa.
1590 - published scientific work "On the movement".
1591 Galileo's father dies.
From 1592 to 1610 he worked at the University of Padua (Venetian period).
1592 - invented the thermometer (at that time it was without a scale).
1602 - Invented the microscope.
1606 - invented the compass.
1609 - Invented the telescope.
1610 - leaves for Florence (1610-1632 - Florentine period).
1611 - visits the Pope for the first time to petition for Copernicus.
1613 - writes works that are designed to protect the interests of Copernicus.
1615 - Roman priesthood accuses Galileo of heresy.
1616 - heliocentrism is prohibited.
From 1633 - arrest, trial, prison, later - house arrest.
1642 - death.

Interesting Galileo Galilei Facts:

When Galileo carefully observed the rings of Saturn, he thought that these were his satellites. This discovery was encrypted as an anagram. Kepler deciphered it incorrectly, deciding that it was about the satellites of the planet Mars.
Galileo himself gave his daughters to the monastery when they were 12 and 13 years old. One of the daughters, Livia, did not want to put up with the fate of the nun, but Virginia accepted this fate humbly.
The grandson of the scientist (the son of his only son) grew up to be a real religious fanatic. He was of the opinion that all the works of his grandfather were heresy, and as a result, he burned all the manuscripts of Galileo.
The Vatican only admitted they were wrong about Galileo in 1981, and agreed that the Earth does indeed revolve around the Sun.

Between Contemporaries was based mainly on the great discoveries he made with the telescope. Indeed, they gave a lot of very important new knowledge about the heavenly bodies, and almost every one of them served as a new proof of the truth of the system. Copernicus. The spots on the illuminated part of the moon, the broken outlines on the edge of the illuminated part of it, viewed through a telescope, turned out to be irregularities on its surface, and Galileo had already compared them with the mountains of our globe. Observing the sun, Galileo discovered spots on it, from the movement of which it became obvious that the sun rotates about its axis. Observing Venus, Galileo saw that it had the same phases as the moon. (Copernicus has already said that it must necessarily be so). Galileo discovered the satellites of Jupiter, and made a lot of observations on them in order to determine the law of their rotation around their planet; he realized that the time differences shown by clocks at different longitudes when observing the eclipse of one or another satellite of Jupiter can serve to determine the difference in these longitudes, and he tried to compile such tables of the movements of the satellites of Jupiter that would have the accuracy necessary for this determination. The Dutch government understood the importance of this allowance for navigation and asked Galileo not to quit work until it was completed; but death ended it before the end.

Galileo discovered the ring of Saturn. (With the weakness of the telescopes through which he made his observations, this ring seemed to be part of the planet itself; that it was separated from it by a distance, he saw only Huygens). Galileo's discoveries also provided important new knowledge about the stars. He saw that the Milky Way consisted of stars, the faint radiance of which merges for the simple eye into a bright band; in the same way, many of the hazy patches turned out to be composed of stars.

Portrait of Galileo Galilei. Artist D. Tintoretto, ca. 1605-1607

But no matter how brilliant the astronomical discoveries of Galileo, his discoveries in mechanics are no less important; only his works elevated it to the degree of science. He dispelled the former erroneous notions about the law of motion, found true ideas about it. Aristotle's false opinions about the essence of motion, while remaining dominant, greatly interfered with the disclosure of the laws of motion. The concepts of Archimedes were the only grounds for inferring truth. Guido Ubaldi and the Dutch mathematician Stevin already took the positions of Archimedes as the basis of their works and expanded some of them. But confused, completely erroneous concepts of movement continued to dominate. Before Galileo, there were almost no attempts at all to consider the facts of motion from a mathematical point of view. Galileo laid a solid foundation for mechanics with his research on the motion of falling and ejected bodies, on the swing of a pendulum, and on the fall of a body along an inclined plane. The laws of motion, found by him and based on the concept of free fall acceleration, became the initial truths for all subsequent studies of the mechanical order of natural phenomena. Without Galileo's discoveries in mechanics, Newton's discoveries would hardly have been possible.

Galileo's students continued his work. One of them, Casteli (born in 1577, died in 1644), successfully applied to the movement of water the concepts developed by Galileo about the general laws of motion and thanks to this he successfully fulfilled the order given to him by Urban VIII to regulate the course of the rivers of the papal state. Another disciple of Galileo, Toricelli(born in 1618, died in 1647) became famous for the discovery that air has gravity; this eliminated the erroneous opinion that nature does not tolerate emptiness (horror vacui).