Concept Blog #1

I can only image what life must have been like five hundred years ago. Looking up at the sky in wonderment, with no idea what was up there or how vast it was. Watching life happen all around without any knowledge of how it all works together. Truly, modern society takes advantage of knowledge. We are truly blessed by concept that anything we want to know is only as far away as a click of a mouse or tap of a screen. There are endless possibilities, and no limit to education. We are only bound by our own curiosity.

While raising two children, I never stopped and thought “Who was the first person to ask ‘why’?” Instead I try to dodge the endless series of “Why”s.  “Mommy, why are there stars?”, “Mommy, how fast will it fall?” etc. Thanks the brilliant mind of Galileo and others of his time, I am able to answer those questions.

Galileo Galilei lived and died during the Renaissance Period.  During his life the world was in chaos. Times were changing and people were beginning to challenge the rigid teachings of the Catholic Church. In an effort to maintain power and control, the Church began the Inquisition which set out to quiet heretics, and silence all those that questioned the teachings of the Church. Galileo was among them.  His brilliant mind struggled with the ancient beliefs in science and astronomy.

Rather than sit silent, Galileo urged the Church to consider another point of view. Perhaps his colleagues were right and the earth revolved around the sun and not the other way around. Despite his attempts the Church called him a heretic citing scripture such as Psalms 104:5 and Ecclesiastes 1:5. Galileo opposed their argument suggesting that perhaps not all scripture was literal. Although official resistance to Galileo’s ideas and theories was lifted in 1835, it was not until 1992 that the Church finally absolved Galileo of his sins.

Galileo’s contributions were not limited to the skies. His influence spanned from astronomy to mathematics, physics, and technology.

In 1593, Galileo constructed a thermometer which can still be found today. In 1624, Galileo expanded and created an improved compound microscope. There are even stories told about Galileo dropping two balls of different weights from the top of the Leaning Tower of Pisa to prove that they would fall at the same speed.

The more I researched Galileo, the more I felt that, even today, we don’t give him enough credit for his contributions.  Even though people like Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking credit him as being the “father of modern science”, his impact on our day to day life often is overlooked.

How many times have taken for granted the thermometer outside when I decided what to wear for the day? Never stopping to thing about the great mind behind the earliest thermometers. How often have I had my blood drawn, only for it to be analyzed under a microscope?

Even with all of his scientific contributions, I feel that Galileo’s most important lesson and legacy comes in the way he lived his life. I am able to tell my children to dream big, question often, and find the answers, because Galileo sought and found answers despite threats of death and years of imprisonment. His contributions enabled intellect to be set free, and for curiosity to know no bounds.