We Celebrate a Galilean Anniversary
Galileo—who, among many accomplishments, was first to use a telescope to discover moons around Jupiter—was born 450 years ago this week. Clara Moskowitz reports
By Clara Moskowitz
SUBSCRIBE TO 60-Second Space
On supporting science journalism
If you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.
What would Galileo Galilei think if he could see us now? The Italian scientist credited with inventing the telescope was born 450 years ago this week.
Galileo might be glad to hear about the triumph of heliocentrism—the idea that the planets rotate around the sun, not the Earth—since this view got Galileo convicted of heresy by the Roman Inquisition.
He might be happy to see how pendulum clocks were invented based on his ideas of pendulum motion. And he'd probably be shocked to know that a telescope bearing his name was launched on a space shuttle to visit the planet Jupiter and the Jovian moons he discovered.
Still, even geniuses can't win 'em all. Perhaps Galileo would be disappointed to learn that the moon really does cause the tides, and that planets do orbit in ellipses, not circles. Those were two ideas of Johannes Kepler's that Galileo rejected.
But all in all, I bet the great Galileo would be impressed with science's progress. Like the discoveries of exoplanets and the expanding universe.
—Clara Moskowitz
[The above text is a transcript of this podcast.]
Subscribe to Support Independent Journalism
Great science journalism requires human expertise, time, effort and creativity. And it costs money. That’s why I and the journalists here at Scientific American hope you’ll join our community.
When you subscribe, you are supporting staff and freelance journalists who are passionate about telling science stories that are true, important and compelling. Our editors and reporters are often experts in their fields, which means they understand the nuances of big discoveries and can untangle the breakthroughs from the hype. With a subscription, you are also supporting rigorous fact-checking to ensure the words we publish are precise and accurate. And you’re supporting original illustrations, graphics and photos that bring you closer to an advanced laboratory, an ice sheet in Antarctica or a space mission in orbit. You’re helping us craft other types of high-quality journalism as well: Our newsletters are carefully written, edited and curated by staffers you have or will come to know and love. Our Science Quickly podcast is based on original reporting, collaboration with editors and scientists and exacting production.
Subscriptions keep this engine running so we can continue to deliver thoughtful, rigorous and independent science journalism to you. In an era of viral misinformation, this work is crucial. If you value what we do, I hope you’ll consider joining us as a subscriber
