Medieval and modern times : an introduction to the history of western Europe form the dissolution of the Roman empire to the present time . Fig. 92. Galileo right and the theologians and universities wrong. The earth isa mere speck in the universe, and even the sun is a relativelysmall body compared with many of the stars, and so far as weknow the universe as a whole has no center. The Italian scientist Galileo (1564-1642), by the use of a Galileolittle telescope he contrived, was able in 1610 to see the spots 36o Medieval and Modern Times on the sun; these indicated that the sun was not, as A
Medieval and modern times : an introduction to the history of western Europe form the dissolution of the Roman empire to the present time . Fig. 92. Galileo right and the theologians and universities wrong. The earth isa mere speck in the universe, and even the sun is a relativelysmall body compared with many of the stars, and so far as weknow the universe as a whole has no center. The Italian scientist Galileo (1564-1642), by the use of a Galileolittle telescope he contrived, was able in 1610 to see the spots 36o Medieval and Modern Times on the sun; these indicated that the sun was not, as Aristotlehad taught, a perfect, unchanging body, and showed also thatit revolved on its axis, as Copernicus had guessed that the earthdid. Galileo made careful experiments by dropping objects from. Fig. 93- Rexe Descartes the leaning tower of Pisa (Fig. 45), which proved that Aristotlewas wrong in assuming that a body weighing a hundred poundsfell a hundred times as fast as a body weighing but one. ToGalileo we owe, besides, many new ideas in the science of me-chanics. He wrote in Italian as well as Latin, and this, too, gaveoffense to those who pinned their faith to Aristotle. They would The Wars of Religion 361 have forgiven Galileo if he had confined his discussions to thelearned who could read Latin, but they thought it highly dan-gerous to have the new ideas set forth in such a way that thepeople at large might find out about them and so come to doubtwhat the theologians and universities were teaching. Galileowas finally summoned before the Inquisition and some of histheories condemned by the church authorities. Just as the Thirty Years War was beginning, a young French- Descartesman by the name of Descartes had finished his education at aJesuit college and decided to get s
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Keywords: ., bookauthorrobinson, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, bookyear1919
