The Essential Galileo

by Galileo Galilei, Maurice A. Finocchiaro (Editor)

Finocchiaro's new and revised translations have done what the Inquisition could they have captured an exceptional range of Galileo's career while also letting him speak--in clear English. No other volume offers more convenient or more reliable access to Galileo's own words, whether on the telescope, the Dialogue, the trial, or the mature theory of motion. --Michael H. Shank, Professor of the History of Science, University of Wisconsin–Madison

Genres: Science, History, Nonfiction, Philosophy, Biography, Physics, Italy

380 pages, Paperback

First published September 30, 2008

About the author

Galileo Galilei was a Tuscan (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. Galileo has been called the "father of modern observational astronomy", the "father of modern physics", the "father of science", and "the Father of Modern Science." The motion of uniformly accelerated objects, taught in nearly all high school and introductory college physics courses, was studied by Galileo as the subject of kinematics. His contributions to observational astronomy include the telescopic confirmation of the phases of Venus, the discovery of the four largest satellites of Jupiter, named the Galilean moons in his honour, and the observation and analysis of sunspots. Galileo also worked in applied science and technology, improving compass design.

Galileo's championing of Copernicanism was controversial within his lifetime. The geocentric view had been dominant since the time of Aristotle, and the controversy engendered by Galileo's presentation of heliocentrism as proven fact resulted in the Catholic Church's prohibiting its advocacy as empirically proven fact, because it was not empirically proven at the time and was contrary to the literal meaning of Scripture. Galileo was eventually forced to recant his heliocentrism and spent the last years of his life under house arrest on orders of the Roman Inquisition.

Reviews

[Peter]

A Man of Faith and Science.
Having read "The Essential Galileo" I can really appreciate what Galileo had to go through to uphold his integrity, his faith in God and his scientific studies. That according to the Roman Catholic church hierarchy were a contradiction and totally conflicted with the scriptures recorded within the Holy scripture. Much like Christ and Paul he had to fight against the religiosity of their times. Hence he was issued with this decree.
In 1616 the author had from the Holy Office the injunction that; "He abandon completely the abovementioned opinion that the Sun in the centre of the world (heavens) and the earth moves, nor henceforth hold, teach, or defend it in anyway, orally, or in writing; otherwise the Holy Office would start proceedings against him. He purportedly acquiesced in the injunction and agreed to obey."
However despite this injunction he continued with his work on the movement of the tides, the Earth's rotation, the Sunrise and Sunset, his findings on the movements of the planets, moons and heavenly bodies plus his many other scientific studies. All this in the face of adversity and the prospect of proceedings against him being brought to bear, with the likelihood of imprisonment because of said heresy.
That conviction finally happened in 1633 where his prison sentence was commuted to house arrest from where he continued to write and have his books published despite the conviction. He died in 1642 and buried in an unmarked grave in Florence, and was only formally rehabilitated unbelievably in 1992 and his work in science recognised as being in harmony with the "scriptures".
PS; In the book it states in harmony with " Religion" I changed this as his wasn't Religion but one of faith in what he was doing and his faith in God that got him started.

[Ted · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have always found pleasure in reading the works of the early scientists, who laid the foundations for modern science not so much on earlier discoveries as on their own original thoughts and experiments. We build technology on technology; they built the foundation on original thought, original reason, and experiment.

It could be said that Galileo was the original scientist, for he combined hypothesis and experiment, requiring that any scientific proposal be validated by trial, and that any tradition handed down over time, if it were invalidated by experiment, be discarded and replaced with solid theories backed by experience.

This book includes Galileo's major theses, observations, and experiments regarding the structure of the solar system and the universe, pendulums, projectiles, and laws of motion. (Some of the same material can be found in Great Experiments in Physics.)

The book also includes part of Galileo's struggles with the Catholic Church, who felt that a heliocentric solar system clashed with a literal interpretation of a few passages of the Bible. I was not prepared to discover that the methods of the Church were identical with those used by the Democratic Party today to suppress those with whom they disagree: censorship and the threat of punishment and imprisonment. Galileo puts it so well: ". . . why is it that when [the Church fathers] come to the meeting they immediately introduce an irrestistible and terrible weapon [the Inquisition], the mere sight of which terrifies even the most skillful and expert champion? If I must tell the truth, I believe it is they who are the most terrified, and that they are trying to find a way of not letting the opponent approach because they feel unable to resist his assaults." (p. 107)

These 400-year-old disputes are amazingly relevant today.

[Denise · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I set out to learn more about Galileo Galilei, I assumed that I would be reading biographies, not reading Galileo's own writings. How wonderful it was to find a book of selected excerpts from his books translated into English! I enjoyed the trio characters discussing physics and motion. And I could still hear the musicality of his original Italian prose.

How clever and eloquent he was as he wrote about his observations, and how patient he was to spend so much time observing nature. How was he able to see and suppose so much from his self-ground telescope lenses?

I love that Galileo said that the final purpose of our efforts is the love the Divine Architect, and that will sustain our hope of learning all truths from Him, the source of light and truth. Pg. 102

I enjoyed the trio's debate of truths and issues, but admit that I couldn't follow or understand all of the arguments or mathematics. I pictured what I could from his vivid descriptions and drawings and appreciated the chance to experience his brilliance in the form of a conversation between three friends.

I love how he ended one section by saying it was time to stop debating and go for a gondola ride in the fresh air. Pg 271.

I think he did agree with Copernicus, though in his trial transcript he says otherwise. And I appreciated the grace with which he spoke of Aristotle's mistaken ideas saying that if Aristotle was there, he would come around or convince them otherwise.

What a great book to read to get an idea about Galileo's thoughts. Great timeline in the beginning of the book.

[Ethan Rogers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Galileo Galilei is popularly known as a great empiricist, that is, as one of the first to use experiments rather than metaphysics to determine the nature of reality. This portrayal is, however, extremely one-sided. In fact, Galileo made his most important contributions to physics by developing his mathematical theory of motion. So committed was Galileo to mathematics, that he was prepared to accept theories that, in principle, could not be exactly verified by experience. For example, in this theory of falling bodies, Galileo explicitly states that he is ignoring air resistance and, as a result, his claim that heavy and light bodies fall at the same speed is not exactly verified by experiment.

Galileo is responsible for developing a science of motion on the basis of Euclidean geometry. It is difficult to overstate the importance that the view of nature as a mathematical object that resulted would have for the history of European thought.

This collection of writings by Galileo published by Hackett is accessible and enjoyable even for readers without a STEM background. The works that it contains are valuable for anyone who wishes to understand the origins of our modern, scientific worldview.

[julia raghu · Rating 4 out of 5]

4/5 ⭐️

definitely the most interesting primary source i’ve read. galileo is incredible at explaining his arguments (he has me agreeing with him knowing the math was not mathing) and he’s lowkey kinda funny.

[Karen Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good read!

[Adele ledoux]

On my journey to becoming a scientist

[Savannah Simpkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

so there’s this generational mother….

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting to see how the religious beliefs of the day and the emerging field of science shaped the future, when looking at one man who tried to change the through process that had existed since aristotle, good information, great starter book for Galileo fans

[Sympawtico · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wordy and repetitive - but interesting from a history-of-science perspective, I suppose. Also, Galileo's ego seemed to be a major player in the plot, which was actually the book's only saving grace.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

interesting but a hard read

[Sami]

Read for class. Pretty interesting.