Aristotelean Beliefs Proved Wrong
Galileo's Copernican Ideas
- Aristotle stated that objects of different weight would hit the ground at different times when dropped from the same height, but Galileo disproved this and showed that Copernicus's way of thinking was more correct. He did this by dropping balls of different weight at the same time, at the same height from the Leaning Tower of Pisa. He stated that the absolute weight does not affect the speed in which something falls - it is the specific and relative weight.
- Back then, it was a matter of fact that the sun orbited the Earth (the center of the universe) while rotating; Galileo thought just the opposite. He thought that the Earth rotated around the sun (the real center of th universe) while making daily rotations.
- Through his self-constructed telescope, Galileo found out that Earth was not the only planet with a natural satellite (moon). Galileo discovered four of Jupiter's largest moons.
Galileo's Importance in History
Galileo played an extremely significant part in shaping modern science. His unfaltering persistence in trying to prove his theories paid off - through a determined conflict and an eventual compromise, today, we all know that the sun is the center of our solar system because of him. We also have telescopes because of him. He also influenced many other scientists/astronomers, like Issac Newton. If Galileo had not existed, there is a chance we wouldn't even know about gravity or moons! We wouldn't be able to create satellites due to the lack of space technology, either. Galileo's ideas opened up a whole lot of new possibilities - what if the other planets also had moons? What if there are more solar systems like ours?
