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Galileo Galilei


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             In order to satisfy his skepticism, Galileo developed the modern standards of scientificproof?. This desire to prove was manifested in his development of the scientific method (Fermi 112), his most significant contribution to modern science. The more prominent aspects of the method were experimentation, observation and communication via models.
             One of the best examples of Galileo's role as scientist and skeptic is in his work with telescopic astronomy. Though the construction of the first telescope is attributed to the artisans of Holland, Galileo drastically improved its enlarging power (IMHS). He was also the first person to turn the telescope toward the skies; it has become the most important tool for astronomical research (IMHS). .
             Galileo wrote:By the aid of a telescope, anyone may see that all the disputes which have tormented the philosophers through so many ages are resolved at once by the unmistakable evidence of our eyes, and we are freed from wordy disputes upon this subject, for the Milky Way is nothing else but a collection of innumerable stars planted together in groups? (Moore 154). .
             By the employment of this tool, Galileo was able to demonstrate many fundamental truths of the Universe. These discoveries were arguably his most important, and certainly those for which history has best remembered him. .
             The first new ground broken, astronomically speaking, by Galileo and his telescope were his observations of the moon (Wudka). Prior to Galileo, it was believed, as Aristotle had proclaimed, that everything on Earth was made out of a combination of four elements (earth, air, fire, or water) and that everything outside of the Earth was made of a fifth element called ether (University of Michigan). Aristotle and his followers also believed that everything outside the earth was perfectly spherical and smooth, apparently a quality of ether (University of Michigan). In 1610 (Rmartin),Galileo said of the moon, "It certainly does not possess a smooth and polished surface, but one rough and uneven, and, just like the face of the Earth itself, is everywhere full of vast protuberances, deep chasms, and sinuosities" (McTavish 22).


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