Historical Astronomers in Context

For this research assignment, my chosen astronomer is Galileo Galilei!

First and foremost, it’s important to note that Galileo Galilei was born on February 15th of 1564 and died on January 8th of 1642. He lived until he was 77.

In order to gain a better understanding of Galileo’s life and timeline, I’ll highlight two significant events that happened during his lifetime. The first event, the Roman Inquisition, was a Roman Catholic Church-based justice system designed to prosecute individuals who held beliefs contrary to the existing religious doctrine. Galileo (and Copernicus) both experienced the Inquisition firsthand, as they were prosecuted for believing in the Copernican heliocentric system (which didn’t align with the Church’s theories about the Earth and the Universe). The second event, the famous Tower of Pisa Experiment, was Galileo’s attempt to dispel Aristotle’s theory on gravity (how objects fall at a rate proportional to their mass). To disprove Aristotle, Galileo took two spheres of different masses and dropped them off the top of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. The conclusion of the experiment was that the objects do not fall proportional to their mass but rather at the same rate (due to air resistance). Even though historians consider this a thought experiment, it was nonetheless significant in Galileo’s history.

Additionally, I chose Pope Urban VIII (Maffeo Barberini) as my second historical figure, as he is indirectly relevant to Galileo’s life and success. He was born on April 5th of 1568 and died July 29th of 1644. He also served as the Pope during Galileo and Copernicus’ lifetimes. Even though he was regarded as moderately successful (as he was able to admire scientists and mathematicians without really worrying about the religious ramifications), he ended up developing a broken relationship with Galileo, leading to Galileo’s house arrest and death (towards the end of his life). They were originally colleagues (the Pope admired Galileo’s work and gave Galileo permission to write on his findings) — however, after they had a falling out (about a book), the Pope never forgave Galileo.

As a reflection, I personally found researching important figures related to historical astronomy to be really interesting and profound! It’s always crazy to me how tons of scientists from the past knew each other and worked in the same circles – this research assignment showed me that astronomers were no different (especially Galileo, Brahe, and Copernicus). Additionally, it gave me perspective into how astronomy started – it was really cool to see how these complex ideas we think about today all began as a result of some simple experiment or not-so-complex theory.

 

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Historical Astronomers in Context

Galileo Galilei

Birth: 15 February 1564

Death: 8 January 1642

Galileo Galilei was an Italian astronomer, mathematician, philosopher, and physicist. Galileo’s work supported the Copernican theory that the Sun was the center of the solar system, not the Earth. He was also heavily involved with telescopes; he built his own and saw that Venus also had phases like the moon, proving that the Earth was not the center of the universe. Later, he discovered that Jupiter had moons that didn’t revolve around Earth. Through his work, Galilei was convicted of heresy and sentenced to house arrest for his remaining years.


Historical Events:

In 1585, the Roanoke colony was founded. This was the first attempt at a permanent English settlement on the North American continent.

In 1598, the Edict of Nantes was signed. This treaty ended the French Wars of Religion And provided substantial rights to Protestants.

Historical Figures:

Rene Descartes (1596-1650) → He was been dubbed the father of modern philosophy because of his work in creating an original system of methodological doubt. He is best known for his quote: “I think, therefore I am.”


William Shakespeare (1564-1616) → Shakespeare was an English playwright, actor, and poet. He is best known for his poems and his 37 plays which include Romeo and Juliet and other famous plays like Macbeth.

Reaction: These characters during this time period (Shakespeare and Descartes) helped create novel fields. Yet, even though Shakespeare and Descartes were leaders and founders in their respective fields, in retrospect, they may have been the very best at advancing their respective fields. Shakespeare’s plays are still read in every English class (and Hamilton I doubt will ever come close to rivaling any of his plays), and Descartes is taught in every introductory philosophy class. Their work is universal even though we do not live in the 16th century anymore. When I see those two individuals and people like Galilei, I gain profound respect for their hard work and natural skill. Sometimes we view historical periods as lagging in development, but I think that these individuals have proven that their time period was important as well.

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A Science Lesson in History (Historical Astronomers in Context)

Isaac Newton was born on January 4 in 1643 in Woolsthorpe, England and died on March 31 in 1727 in Kensington, England.

Sir Isaac Newton contributed to the discovery of gravity, the laws of motion and forces. He also clarified the understanding of optics and invented calculus. The first law is that an object in motion will stay in motion unless acted upon by a force, and the same for an object in rest. The second law of motion is the equation F=m*a, that force is equal to the change in momentum multiplied by the change in time. The third law of motion is that for every action, there is an equal or opposite reaction. His work with optics proved that white light is a mixture of many types of rays (colors), instead of a single one.

Historical Events

In 1683, the Ottoman Turks were defeated in Austria. The Polish Ottoman War lasted from 1683 to 1699 and ended with the Treaty of Karlowitz. It was a turning point that marked the decline of the Ottoman Empire and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

In 1714, the typewriter was patented by Henry Mill. He filled a ‘vaguely-worded’ patent for a machine that could imprint letters one by one after another. However, the first working typewriter was documented in 1808.

Historical Figure

Johann Sebastian Bach was born on March 31 (or March 21 in the Old Style) in Eisenach and died on July 28 in 1750 in Leipzig. He is known as one of the greatest composers of all time. He composed music on the keyboard and the organ for sacred and secular purposes.

REFLECTION

In my history of art classes, we spend a lot of time understanding world events that surround major artworks or movements concerning patron donors, especially the Church. My class on Galileo last year was very informative because I learned that science is treated like art in the sense that the church plays a big role in what is broadcasted. Popular opinion can overshadow truth and personal expression, pushing back progress.

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Historical Astronomers in Context

Galileo Galilei (February 15, 1564 – January 8, 1642) made great strides with astronomy with his telescope. He showed that many of the heavenly bodies were not perfect as many had thought them to be. He saw that the moon had craters and valleys in it and that the sun had little imperfections in it as well. His view of Venus’s phases, similar to the Moon phases, was great evidence that the solar system followed a heliocentric model. 

On April 13, 1598, the Edict of Nantes was signed, ending the French Wars of Religion between the Roman Catholics and Huguenots that had lasted for 36 years. 

On September 6, 1566, Suleyman the Magnificent, leader of the Ottoman Empire for 46 years, died at the Battle of Szigetvár. Despite his death, the Ottoman Empire remained strong.

Sir Francis Drake was born in 1540 and died on January 28, 1596. He was an English sailor known for fighting against the Spanish Armada for England.

It was interesting to see that although we may be focused on the evolution of astronomy, during this same time period, many other important events are happening too. These events in their own right have also shaped and defined why the modern world is the way it is now. With the complexity of the history of the world, its eye-opening to see how so many events have occurred for the world to become the way it is now.
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Galileo Galilei: Historical Astronomers in Context

Galileo Galilei: born Feb. 15 1564 ; died Jan. 8 1642

December 1613: Galileo finds evidence that supports the Copernican system of a heliocentric Solar System, saying that the ocean tides increase and decrease according to the rotation of Earth on its axis and Earth’s revolution around the sun.

April 12, 1633: Galileo is put on trial by the Catholic church where he is forced to recant his belief of heliocentrism. Galileo is then put on house arrest and banned from continuing his research.

  Pope Urban VIII (April 5 1568- July 29) 1644 was responsible for putting Galileo on trial for heresy against the Catholic church. The pope had previously given Galileo permission to write about the Copernican theory, but Galileo’s publication of Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief Systems of the World in 1932 embarrassed the church forcing the pope to bring Galileo to trial.

The life of Galileo often embodies the challenges associated with making new scientific discoveries. Despite all of the overwhelming evidence pointing towards a heliocentric theory, the world was not ready to accept it. Throughout human history, we have always selfishly deemed humans as the center of the universe. At the time of Galileo’s discovery, our egos were not ready to believe that we are not as special as we had previously thought. I believe that this bias has delayed many contributions to modern science, as people try to fit the data to match their preconceived notions about our world, rather than letting the data speak for itself.

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Historical Astronomers in Context – Johannes Kepler

Portrait of Kepler from Wikipedia

Johannes Kepler. (Dec.27.1571 – Nov.15.1630)

He was important to astronomy for his revolutionary discovery of laws of planetary motion, and his books Astronomia novaHarmonices Mundi, and Epitome Astronomiae Copernicanae. His laws of planetary motion describe how planets orbit around the Sun and the relationship between their period and their orbit length. His works contribute to Newton’s theory of gravity too.

Contemporary events:

In 1614, John Napier discovers logarithms. Logarithms is a new function which extended the world of math and analysis beyond the scope of algebraic methods. The method of logarithms was discovered and published first by John Napier in 1614 in his book called Mirifici Logarithmorum Canonis Descriptio(Description of the Wonderful Rule of Logarithms).

In 1610, Galileo sees the moons of Jupiter (Galilean moons) through his telescope. Galileo’s discovery marked the importance of telescope as a tool for astronomers as telescope allowed him to find objects in the sky that could not be detected by naked eye. More importantly, the discovery of moons of Jupiter disproves the Ptolemaic world system, which held that everything has to orbit around the Earth. 

Contemporary person:

Jan Baptist van Helmont. (Jan.12.1580 – Dec.30.1644)

Portrait of J.B van Helmont. Picture from Wikipedia.

He was a Flemish chemist, physiologist, and physician. He is sometimes considered to be “the founder of pneumatic chemistry”. Van Helmont is important to science development and chemistry for his discovery of CO2 and ideas on spontaneous generation. He was one of the first people realizing there are gases different from normal air in our atmosphere and furthermore he introduced the word “gas” (from the Greek word chaos) into the vocabulary of science.

Reflection:

It’s very interesting to see that Galileo Galilei has lived entire life of Kepler and they are both huge astronomical figures to today’s science and astronomy. Also 16thcentury and 17thcentury was a huge revolutionary period in science in which a lot of great scientists are born and discoveries are made, just like Kepler’s laws of planetary motion, Newton’s law of gravity and discovery of CO2 and the word “gas”. All of these histories make me feel that the history of science is step-by-step with discoveries made based on achievements of our predecessors. And our scientific discoveries today will become the bricks for our future science development.

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Historical Astronomers in Context

Galileo Galilei (Feb 15, 1564 – Jan 8, 1642)

Historical Events During Galileo’s Lifetime:

In 1607, Jamestown was founded, becoming the first permanent English colony established in the Americas. Jamestown was established by the Virginia Company of London and was a settlement in the Virginia Colony, which was chartered in 1606.

Jamestown, Virginia

Starting in the early 1600’s, the Boroque Period was established in Europe, a time in which the style of architecture, music, painting, and sculpture was purposefully extravagant. The objective of the Baroque style was to elicit awe from those who viewed the art or listened to its music by using “contrast, movement, exuberant detail, deep colour, grandeur and surprise.”

An Example of Baroque Painting: Wies Church, Germany

Historical Figure:

William Shakespeare (bapt. Apr 26, 1564 – Apr 23, 1616) is highly regarded and is considered one of the best English writers and dramatists of all time. He is known for his great works Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, Othello, and many more.

Romeo and Juliet, Oil Painting by Ford Madox Brown (1870)

Reflection:

It is incredible to think about all the events throughout history that have developed societies across Earth. During Galileo’s lifetime, the first colony was founded in the Americas, the Boroque Period inspired Europe, and William Shakespeare inspired writing and drama for eternity. These events occurred on our own planet, all the while Galileo was discovering and developing major breakthroughs in astronomy. While we write, sing, develop technology, and interact with each other, the universe has its own development that created us and will dictate the fate of our future in many years to come.

References:

Wikipedia contributors. “Galileo Galilei.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 20 Jan. 2019. Web. 26 Jan. 2019.

Wikipedia contributors. “Jamestown, Virginia.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 23 Jan. 2019. Web. 26 Jan. 2019.

Wikipedia contributors. “Baroque.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 19 Jan. 2019. Web. 26 Jan. 2019.

Wikipedia contributors. “William Shakespeare.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 14 Jan. 2019. Web. 26 Jan. 2019.

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Historical Astronomers in Context

Artist’s Rendition of Johannes Kepler. Image Courtesy of Popular Science.

Johannes Kepler was born in the German town of Weil der Stadt on December 27, 1571. Kepler was one of the most significant astronomers in history. He developed the current heliocentric model of planetary motion using Tycho Brahe’s naked eye observations. Contrasting his previous beliefs, Kepler discovered that planets orbit the sun in ellipses, not perfect circles, based on the data Brahe had collected. Kepler also published 3 laws of planetary motion that are still accepted as true today. Kepler died on May 24, 1543. To read more in depth about Kepler’s revolutionary career, visit this website by Nasa.

While Kepler was changing the future of the field of astronomy, other historical events occurred around the world. William Shakespeare, arguably the most famous playwright of all time, first saw his tragedy Romeo and Juliet published in 1597. This famous story is of forbidden love between a young man and woman from feuding families. In 1620, the Mayflower carrying the Pilgrims arrived at Plymouth Rock. The Pilgrims, also called Separatists, were English men and women who had separated from the church of England and were seeking religious freedom. They formed a permanent English settlement in Plymouth Massachusetts.

Kepler was one of numerous individuals shaping the world during the late 16th century. Mary Queen of Scots was the ruler of Scotland from December 14, 1542 to July 24, 1567 (27 years). She held the throne during a very reformative time for the nation where Catholics and Protestants were splitting apart. After an uprising and imprisonment, Mary fled to England to seek protection from Queen Elizabeth I, but was further imprisoned for 19 years. Ultimately, she was beheaded on February 8, 1587 on grounds of planning the assassination of the Queen.

While doing this research, I was thoroughly surprised to see the numerous historically significant events that happened and people that lived during the same time period as Johannes Kepler. I was unaware of the significance of the late 16th and early 17th centuries or the situations surrounding Kepler while he made his discoveries. While Kepler was changing the field of astronomy and the field of science was developing, politics and art were also revolutionizing. I find it somewhat surprising that astronomers were able to take the time to make such crucial observations and push scientific boundaries while the world was changing so much. Countries were fighting wars and colonizing new areas and the powers of the world were shifting, but science still mattered enough to be studied. Context for what we learn about is so important. By focusing on the big picture of the world during this time period I now have a better idea of what life was really like for astronomers such as Kepler while they made such leaps and bounds. Quite frankly, context can make science more fascinating and demonstrates the true complexity of the world. We need context to see how the progression of science fit in with the progression of the rest of society. One can really see the value of science when informed of the obstacles surrounding it.

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Tides and the Limits of Human Understanding

This story begins where so many great ones do (including the unnecessarily long URL of my blog) – by making fun of Bill O’Reilly:

Hopefully the last time I link Fox News. Also, ignore the hostility and general demeanor of his counterpart.

Like many people. Bill can’t grasp how the tides operate. And, in his defense, the explanation isn’t exactly obvious to the layperson. As the moon orbits Earth, its gravitational influence produces what’s called tidal force. This pulls on the water closest to moon, causing high tides, but it also causes the opposite side of earth to bulge out, causing another high tide at the same time.

SciJinks

Why would the tides be high on the opposite side? Well, imagine you’re squeezing a rubber ball between your hands – the area you displace with your hands is pushed outward on both sides. The water (and to a much lesser degree, land) on Earth is affected in a similar way by the tidal force generated by the moon.

SciJinks

After seeing the science behind tidal forces, I think we can all have sympathy for those who didn’t figure it out on their own. However, the reason I poke fun at Bill is his insistence that the tides can’t be explained. He’s not the first person to use personal ignorance as proof of supernatural phenomena. Some of the smartest people in human history have fallen prey to this fallacy, including Sir Isaac Newton, who struggled to explain unstable orbits and deemed them an act of God.

The problem lies with all the progress lost by this attitude, and the ignorance it breeds. Even if nobody could explain how the tides work, Bill’s defeatist attitude is the wrong way to approach the natural world. Be the first to help those in the dark if they’re mystified by known laws of nature (but hopefully not as rudely as the man in the previous video). If something can’t be explained yet, be the first one to explain it! Future ASTR2110 students might be blogging about you one day.

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Historical Astronomers in Context

Isaac Newton (1643-1727) was a revolutionary figure in the field of astronomy, and science in general. Newton expanded upon the ideas of Galileo by identifying the force of gravity, and subsequently formulating the law of gravitation. Along with the law of gravitation, he introduced the three laws of motion. Other contributions to astronomy include observing the color spectrum of visible light and inventing the reflecting telescope. Newton didn’t “discover” much in terms of the structure of the solar system, but he did confirm the controversial theories of Galileo and heliocentrism.

During the life of Newton, New York City finds its name on September 8, 1664. Several hundred English soldiers arrive in New Amsterdam to take over the city at the orders of King Charles II. The Dutch give up without a fight due to the residents asking their ruler to surrender. The English rename New Amsterdam to New York City. Also, on September 2, 1666, The Great Fire of London begins. The wind blows the fire north from its origin in a bakery into the major parts of the city, quickly overwhelming the firebreaks. Two days later, fire covers most of the city, destroying St. Paul’s Cathedral along with other major landmarks. When the fire finally stops on Thursday, September 6, almost 90% of the population is left homeless.

A major figure that came about during Newton’s life is Peter the Great (1672-1725). Peter the Great was Tsar of Russia from 1682 to 1721. He started a cultural revolution in his country, based on the values of the Enlightenment. He also founded the city of Saint Petersburg, and was 6 feet 8 inches tall.

After learning about some of the other events going on during the life of Isaac Newton, it gives some context to the chaos of life over the last few hundred years. Empires rose and fell, people died at a moment’s notice, and it’s impossible to say how many others who were equally as brilliant as Newton were hindered or killed before they could reach their potential. In particular, Newton could easily have been ruined by the Great Fire of London had he been living there at the time, instead of researching at his home in Woolsthorpe. During that period, he was producing his work on calculus, gravitation, and optics.

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