Paper Summary:

This paper explores Galileo's theories about science and the universe, pointing out how they differed from contemporary outlooks at his time. The paper discusses Galileo's use of observation and mathematics to prove scientific theories. Additionally, Galileo is shown to have proven a number of Copernicus' theories based on observation. The paper includes Galileo's letter to the Grand Duchess Christina in which he discusses his beliefs about science and the Bible. The paper concludes by stating that the Scientific Revolution that Galileo helped to foment if not carry out was built on a quest for truth, and would have been pointless if it had ended by accepting older dogmas simply because they used to work, and did so for so long.

Outline:

Introduction
The Starry Messenger
The Math Behind the Revolution
Galileo's Letter to the Grand Duchess Christina
A Response Letter to the Same Duchess
Conclusion

From the Paper:

"Galileo did not just contribute to science, he almost invented it. He was among the first to bring a serious mathematical attention to issues in nature, observing, cataloging, and analyzing numerically rather than making assumptions based on perception alone. More than anything else, Galileo taught the world--or at least the small portion of it that was really paying attention to him--how scientific investigation was to be carried out if the results were to be reliable. The Scientific Revolution was a beast largely of Galileo's own making; one could say the he was martyred for or alternately became a traitor to this cause, and he wouldn't be the first or the last of either of these things. But attempts to come up with a single figure who had as much of an impact on the development of science at the time than Galileo Galieli are failed, and a small treatise called The Starry Messenger is a large part of the reason why."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Drake, Stillman. Galileo at Work: His Scientific Biography. New York: Dover, 2003.
• Galilei, Galileo. The Starry Messenger. 1610. Accessed 26 September 2009. http://www.bard.edu/admission/forms/pdfs/galileo.pdf
• Galilei, Galileo. "Letter to the Grand Duchess Christina of Tuscany." 1615. Accessed 26 September 2009. http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/galileo-tuscany.html

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