How did Galileo and his telescope change the idea of ​​the universe?

The path of genius is not always easy for those who walk it. When the work of the first modern physicist and astronomer Galileo Galilei came out and directly threatened the "order of the universe" , he became one of the enemies of the Catholic Church.

At one point Galileo Galilei was deemed heresy by the Inquisition and was subject to prolonged house arrest. But these efforts failed to stop the wave of heliocentric theory he discovered: the concept that is now considered common sense - the Earth revolves around the sun and the sun is at the center of our solar system. we. Using a revolutionary telescope he built himself, Galileo was able to observe celestial objects in new ways. His work contributed to a paradigm shift that made him a leading figure of the Scientific Revolution and the father of modern astronomy.

With a telescope, Galileo was able to observe celestial objects in new ways.

Galileo grew up in Pisa in the Principality of Florence. At the University of Pisa, he became interested in mathematics and physics. He taught geometry and astronomy to students at the Universities of Pisa and Padua. At this time, the heliocentric view of the universe was quietly circulating, and it was later recognized by Nicolaus Copernicus in 1543. This broke the age-old Ptolemaic system which was geocentric; however, at that time it was still a matter of controversy between science and religion. This revolutionary idea was even considered heresy at the time, and remains unproven.

In 1608, Dutch telescope manufacturers Hans Lippershey and Zacharias Janssen, and Jacob Metius independently created mankind's first known telescopes. In fact, optics is an age-old science, and the magnifying principles behind telescopes are not new. Just a year later, Galileo made a splash with his "perspective glasses" or spy glasses. With extensive experience in creating scientific instruments, he began to build one of his own.

With a wealth of experience, Galileo began to build a telescope of his own.

The Dutch versions and Galileo's first attempt at a telescope possessed only a modest magnification of 3X. However, at the end of 1609, Galileo made a wooden and leather version with 21X magnification and another version in 1610, possessing 16X magnification.

These early models had a narrow field of view, but they provided a whole new way of looking at the universe. Thanks to the advent of astronomy, the universe has been studied with measurements made with various instruments. Later, Galileo introduced his invention to Italian noblemen and it quickly went viral.

 Later, Galileo introduced his inventions to the Italian aristocrats.

Galileo's telescopes were refracting telescopes , possessing a convex and concave lens connected by a long tube. An observation eyepiece at the end of the convex lens allows everyone to see the refracted image.

Looking through his telescope, Galileo discovered that the moon is not a perfect sphere, Jupiter has a moon. (These were long known to the ancient Chinese, but true. This was actually new to Europeans at the time) . With his observations, he published his discovery and sketch of what he saw in space in a famous work bearing his name - Starry messenger . In particular, the moons of Jupiter and the phases of Venus have been shown to be important evidence in favor of heliocentric theory.

A sketch of what Galileo saw in space.

At the time, the Church and science were intimately linked, and the rejection of geocentrism was still a bold scientific and social move in the early 17th century. Many people supported geocentrism. actually based on biblical verses that refer to the movement of the sun. However, the church was also a patron of scientific research and possessed many erudite priests interested in heaven, mathematics, and other subjects. Although Galileo was a devout Catholic, he actively defended heliocentrism in his correspondence and work.

In 1615, a Dominican cleric wrote to the Roman Inquisition complaining about Galileo's controversial stance. After an investigation into these heresy allegations, Galileo remained undecided. However, the Inquisition under Pope Paul V declared that heliocentric theory was scientifically and theoretically false and banned the theory altogether.

As a result, Copernicus's Revolutions and other books promoting the heliocentric theory were banned. Galileo himself was warned by the church.

When Pope Urban VIII was elected, Galileo was on the pope's list of great books. His work comparing the geocentric and heliocentric model - titled: Dialogue Concerning the Two Major World Systems - published in 1632 was approved by the Pope and the Inquisition. .

However, it seems that the church failed to anticipate the real impact of this. Later, Galileo again faced the Inquisition, this time being found guilty of "suspecting heresy" and of rejecting the Bible.

Accordingly, Galileo spent the rest of his life under house arrest, and he studied kinematics and materials science. Meanwhile, his heliocentric theory and the use of telescopes - along with the work of contemporaries like Johannes Kepler - fueled both the theory and the study of astronomy.