Join us on a literary world trip!
Add this book to bookshelf
Grey
Write a new comment Default profile 50px
Grey
Subscribe to read the full book or read the first pages for free!
I want to read the book!
All characters reduced
Great Astronomers: Galileo Galilei - cover

Great Astronomers: Galileo Galilei

Robert Stawell Ball

Publisher: Robert Stawell Ball

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

Summary

Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) was an Italian physicist, mathematician, astronomer, and philosopher who played a major role in the Scientific Revolution. His achievements include improvements to the telescope and consequent astronomical observations and support for Copernicanism, which held that the Earth is not the center of the universe and that the Earth and planets revolve around the Sun. Galileo has been called the father of modern observational astronomy, the father of modern physics, and the father of modern science.

This eBook tells the life story of Galileo, from a chapter in Great Astronomers by Sir Richard S. Ball (2nd edition, 1907). It begins:

"Among the ranks of the great astronomers it would be difficult to find one whose life presents more interesting features and remarkable vicissitudes than does that of Galileo. We may consider him as the patient investigator and brilliant discoverer. We may consider him in his private relations, especially to his daughter, Sister Maria Celeste, a woman of very remarkable character; and we have also the pathetic drama at the close of Galileo's life, when the philosopher drew down upon himself the thunders of the Inquisition."

The book explains Galileo's work and theories, along with a narrative of his personal troubles because of his science. The Catholic Church held that Galileo's theory was heretical, contrary to holy scripture. He was ordered never to speak of it, but he defied that order and was tried before the Inquisition again for heresy and defiance of a Papal decree.

"...With his hands on the Gospels, Galileo was made to curse and detest the false opinion that the sun was the centre of the universe and immovable, and that the earth was not the centre of the same, and that it moved. He swore that for the future he will never say nor write such things as may bring him under suspicion, and that if he does so he submits to all the pains and penalties of the sacred canons."

He was ordered to be secluded for the rest of his life and not to speak of his theory again. The book ends with this sad story of science versus dogma.
Available since: 03/19/2016.

Other books that might interest you

  • On the Frontlines of the Television War - A Legendary War Cameraman in Vietnam - cover

    On the Frontlines of the...

    Yasutsune Hirashiki

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0 
    “The eyewitness accounts of the many phases of the war in this memoir bring events to life as if they had happened yesterday” (Vietnam Veterans of America Book Reviews).  On the Frontlines of the Television War is the story of Yasutsune “Tony” Hirashiki’s ten years in Vietnam—beginning when he arrived in 1966 as a young freelancer with a 16mm camera, but without a job or the slightest grasp of English, and ending in the hectic fall of Saigon in 1975, when he was literally thrown on one of the last flights out.   His memoir has all the exciting tales of peril, hardship, and close calls of the best battle memoirs, but it is primarily a story of very real and yet remarkable people: the soldiers who fought, bled, and died, and the reporters and photographers who went right to the frontlines to record their stories and memorialize their sacrifice. If this was truly the first “television war,” then it is time to hear the story of the cameramen who shot the pictures and the reporters who wrote the stories that the average American witnessed daily in their living rooms.   An award-winning sensation when it was released in Japan in 2008, this book has been completely recreated for an international audience.   “Tony Hirashiki is an essential piece of the foundation on which ABC was built . . . Tony reported the news with his camera and in doing so, he brought the truth about the important events of our day to millions of Americans.” —David Westin, former President of ABC News
    Show book
  • Love at First Bite - Tales from a Veterinary Life - cover

    Love at First Bite - Tales from...

    Dr Yair Ben Ziony

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0 
    Four legged Patients and Two Legged Masters 
In this collection of stories from his life, Israeli veterinarian Dr. Yair Ben Ziony shares his fascinating experiences with animals that moo, bark, bay, and purr. Whether describing days in his private small-animal clinic, his travel in the newly independent state of Israel tending to farm animals, or his four years in pre-revolutionary Iran managing a dairy farm, Ben Ziony writes with precision, wit, and charm. 
His sensitive eye reveals the beauty and nuance in every situation, as he evinces empathy not only for his four-legged patients but also for their two-legged masters, who often prove as intriguing and unpredictable as their charges. Each tale—be it amusing, sad, shocking, or simply strange—gives the listener fresh insight into the intricacies of the human-animal relationship.
    Show book
  • Questioning solitary confinement for teens - cover

    Questioning solitary confinement...

    PBS NewsHour

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0 
    At Rikers Island, New York City’s main jail complex, about a quarter of the underaged teenagers who are awaiting trial are in solitary confinement, spending 23 hours a day in a 6 by 8 ft cell. Daffodil Altan of the Center for Investigative Reporting takes a look at concern from city officials and others about the psychological effects of isolation on young inmates.
    Show book
  • Unruly Figures - Twenty Tales of Rebels Rulebreakers and Revolutionaries You've (Probably) Never Heard Of - cover

    Unruly Figures - Twenty Tales of...

    Valorie Castellanos Clark

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0 
    Unruly Figures gives you access to the lives and often untold stories of twenty of history's most fascinating individuals. Of all the rebels and revolutionaries who have acted around the world, these are often overlooked. Whether they are a bit familiar or entirely new to you, each of these historical figures provides a vivid example of what it means to live life on one's own terms and have a lasting influence on society.In the first collection of its kind, spotlighting a young historian's fresh view on unheralded rebels, these characters' true stories are brought to life through enthralling narratives of their feats. Even those whose names are recognizable—like Jonas Salk—have moments of rebellion that are largely left out of their histories.Dive into this collection of hidden history tales—those of scientists, artists, revolutionaries, activists, heirs to thrones, and so many more—and you are guaranteed to be inspired by how they lived on their own unconventional terms.
    Show book
  • There is no Map in Hell - The record-breaking run across the Lake District fells - cover

    There is no Map in Hell - The...

    Steve Birkinshaw

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0 
    In 1986, the legendary fell runner Joss Naylor completed a continuous circuit of all 214 Wainwright fells in the Lake District, covering a staggering distance of over 300 miles - plus many thousands of metres of ascent - in only seven days and one hour.
Those in the know thought that this record would never be beaten. It is the ultimate British ultramarathon. The person taking on this superhuman challenge would have to be willing to push harder and suffer more than ever before. There is no Map in Hell tells the story of a man willing to do just that.
In 2014, Steve Birkinshaw made an attempt at setting a new record. With a background of nearly forty years of running elite orienteering races and extreme-distance fell running over the toughest terrain, if he couldn't do it, surely no one could. But the Wainwrights challenge is in a different league: aspirants need to complete two marathons and over 5,000 metres of ascent every day for a week.
With a foreword by Joss Naylor, There is no Map in Hell recounts Birkinshaw's preparation, training and mile-by-mile experience of the extraordinary and sometimes hellish demands he made of his mind and body, and the physiological aftermath of such a feat. His deep love of the fells, phenomenal strength and tenacity are awe inspiring, and testimony to athletes and onlookers alike that 'in order to attain the impossible, one must attempt the absurd'.
    Show book
  • Ginger Baker of Cream: In Conversation 8 - cover

    Ginger Baker of Cream: In...

    Geoffrey Giuliano

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0 
    Ginger Baker is without question one of the foremost drummers of his generation having founded Cream and Blind Faith. In the early 1990s, Geoffrey Giuliano received an unsolicited call from Mr. Baker asking if he would be interested in writing his autobiography. From there a turbulent, yet fruitful relationship ensued between the two men.While the book has yet to be published, here at last, are the in-depth, upfront, and personal conversations the two recorded in an upstate New York studio all those years ago. For everyone interested in the history and cultural significance of the popular music of the 20th century this series is an exclusive must-have audio event.Episode Eight: Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker - the great Cream is born!Contains adult language and mature themes. Not recommended for children.Produced by Fred BetschenEdited by Macc KayProject Coordinator: Alex FranchiMusic by Audionautix
    Show book