Comments by "Lawrence D’Oliveiro" (@lawrencedoliveiro9104) on "Galileo Galilei: Father of Modern Science" video.

  1. No coincidence that the Christians use the term “Lucifer” (light-bearer) as a synonym for “devil”. Religious thinking can never stand to have too much light shed on it.
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  2. 16:22 The Venetians used telescopes as a strategic weapon. Whoever was first to identify approaching ships coming back with trade goods from overseas ports had an advantage in bidding for those goods. This advantage translated into real money.
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  3. And who probably, shall we say, “tweaked” his evidence just a little bit.
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  4. Definitely Venus. Actually, you can almost see the phases of Venus with the naked eye. When it’s about closest to Earth, and biggest and brightest, it also looks distinctly not-round.
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  5. The telescope lets you see more stars because its wider aperture gathers more light than your unaided eye can.
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  6. Worth mentioning Jacob Bronowski’s classic 1973 documentary series on the history of science, The Ascent Of Man . May seem a bit old now, but he’s still fascinating as a presenter. Episode 6 dealt in part with Galileo. Bronowski visits the actual room where Galileo was tried--it had been turned into a post office by that time. He was also granted access to the secret Vatican archive where a remarkable series of historical documents are kept, including the (in)famous divorce application by Henry VIII of England, the refusal of which led to the foundation of the Church of England. While the trial of Galileo took place in 1633, the dossier collected on him by the Inquisition starts as far back as 1611. There was also claimed to be a document (never produced at the trial) which was supposed to prohibit him from teaching geocentrism. Bronowski found that document in the archive, and it was at best an unfinished draft which was rejected, or at worst, a complete forgery. As part of Galileo’s sentence, besides the recantation and the house arrest, he was also to be shown the instruments of torture. You can imagine the effect on a scholar, a man unused to physical abuses, such a display would have.
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  7. The whole dropping-weights-from-the-tower thing can be done entirely as a thought experiment.
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  8. 16:50 The Moon had mountains. How did he know? Because they cast shadows, depending on the angle of the Sun.
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