Documenti di Didattica
Documenti di Professioni
Documenti di Cultura
INDEX
BIOGRAFIA DI GALILEI
GALILEIS BIOGRAPHY
GALILEI E LA LETTERATURA
GALILEI E LARTE
10
GALILEI E LA MUSICA
12
LE DONNE DI GALILEI
GALILEIS WOMEN
14
GALILEI E LA MECCANICA
16
GALILEI E LASTRONOMIA
BIOGRAFIA DI GALILEI
Galileo Galilei nasce a Pisa il 15 febbraio 1564, primogenito
di Vincenzo Galilei di Firenze e Giulia degli Ammannati di
Pescia. Iniziati gli studi universitari di medicina a Pisa, Galilei
per attratto dalle matematiche, che studia con Ostilio Ricci.
Interrotti gli studi, Galilei si dedica a problemi di fisica che
affronta seguendo il metodo di Archimede. Risale al 1586
linvenzione della bilancia idrostatica che si richiama allantico
problema archimedeo della corona di Gerone di Siracusa.
Nel 1589-1592, Galilei insegna matematiche a Pisa e inizia
quello studio del moto dei corpi che lo vedr impegnato per
tutta la vita. Per dimostrare che la velocit dei corpi in caduta
proporzionale alla loro densit e non al loro peso, Galilei
avrebbe fatto degli esperimenti gettando dei pesi dalla Torre
di Pisa. Nei decenni successivi, Galilei scoprir vari teoremi sul
baricentro e sulla traiettoria parabolica dei proiettili.
Dal 1592 al 1610, Galilei insegna matematiche a Padova dove
allestisce anche un laboratorio dal quale usciranno numerose
invenzioni: una pompa azionata da cavalli per innalzare
lacqua, il compasso geometrico e militare, il termoscopio e il
cannocchiale galileiano. Galilei torna in Toscana nel 1610 come
Filosofo e Matematico del Granduca.
Nel frattempo, inizia a formulare una sua teoria (errata)
delle maree come base per dimostrare la validit del
sistema copernicano. Lantica cosmologia aristotelica entra
nuovamente in crisi con losservazione della stella nova del
1604, una prova contro la presunta immutabilit dei cieli.
Nuove scoperte astronomiche sono legate alle osservazioni
compiute da Galilei con i suoi telescopi - la scoperta delle
montagne lunari, dei satelli di Giove, di miriadi di stelle nella
GALILEIS BIOGRAPHY
Galileo Galilei was born in Pisa on February 15th 1564, the
first child of Vincenzo Galilei from Florence and Giulia degli
Ammannati from Pescia. Despite enrolling as a student of
medicine at the university of Pisa, he was more attracted to
mathematics, which he studied with Ostilio Ricci. After giving
up his medical course, he devoted himself to problems in
physics, which he tackled following Archimedes method. In
1586 he invented the hydrostatic balance, which draws on the
old Archimedean problem of Hiero of Syracuses crown.
Between 1589 and 1592 Galilei taught mathematics at Pisa and
began his life-long study of the motion of bodies. To prove that
the speed of a falling body is proportional to its density rather
than to its weight, Galilei is said to have carried out practical
experiments by dropping weights from the Leaning Tower. In
the following decades he developed several theorems on the
center of gravity and on the parabolic path of projectiles.
Between 1592 and 1610 Galilei taught mathematics at Padua,
where he also set up a laboratory that would be home to
several inventions: a pump driven by horses to raise the level
of water, the geometric and military compass, the thermoscope
and his famous telescope. In 1620 Galilei went back to Tuscany
as Mathematician and Philosopher to the Grand Duke.
Meanwhile he developed a (wrong) theory on tides as a way to
prove the validity of the Copernican system. Aristotles ancient
cosmology had suffered a severe blow when a New Star
was observed in 1604 one more piece of evidence against
the alleged unchangeability of the heavens. By observing
the sky with his telescopes, Galilei made more astronomical
discoveries, including the mountains of the Moon, the satellites
of Jupiter and the myriads of stars that make up the Milky Way
all immediately published in the Starry Messenger (Sidereus
Nuncius) in 1610. Later on, even if he never managed to
observe Saturns rings, Galilei discovered that there was more
to the planet than a mere circular shape. He also observed
that the phases of Venus could only be justified if the planet
actually moved around the Sun. The Sun itself provided a new
topic for discussion with its spots.
The close link existing at the time between astronomy and
religion caused Galilei to be attacked by those who regarded
anti-Aristotelism as heresy. Initially all charges were rejected,
since Galilei was a leading celebrity in Rome. However,
Copernicus treatise was put on the Index until all mistakes in it
be corrected, and Galilei was instructed to teach the Copernican
system not as a truth but rather as a mere mathematical
hypothesis. Galilei embarked on a long campaign in favour of
a separation between a scientific knowledge of nature and the
knowledge revealed by the Holy Scriptures, but he breached
this idea himself when he tried to prove that the Copernican
system was fully compatible with some passages from the
Bible. When the Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief Systems
of the World Ptolemaic and Copernican was published in
1632, Galilei lost the support of Pope Urban VIII and was put
on trial by the Inquisition. Found guilty, he abjured his errors
and was sentenced to house arrest in his villa Il Gioiello
at Arcetri. His defeat was followed by the death of his most
beloved daughter, Sister Maria Celeste, and by blindness. His
last great work, Discourses and Mathematical Demonstrations
Concerning the Two New Sciences was published in Leyden
in 1638. Galilei died at Arcetri on January 8th, 1642.
GALILEI E LA LETTERATURA
GALILEI E LARTE
3. Ludovico Cardi detto il Cigoli, Assunzione della Vergine (1610-1612), Roma, S. Maria Maggiore, cappella Paolina.
4. Donato Creti, Le osservazioni astronomiche: Luna (1711), Roma, Pinacoteca Vaticana.
GALILEI E LA MUSICA
10
5. Gioseffo Zarlino (1517-1590). 6. Lezione di musica (Franchino Gaffurio), Practica musicae - 1496.
7. Vincenzo Galilei, Dialogo della musica, antica e moderna (1581).
11
LE DONNE DI GALILEI
GALILEIS WOMEN
12
13
GALILEI E LA MECCANICA
14
10
11
12
9. Apparecchio per il moto parabolico dei gravi/Device showing the parabolic motion of heavier bodies. 10. Apparecchio per la composizione
dei movimenti/Small device for motion composition. 11. Sostegno a forca con tre pendoli/Y-shaped stand with three pendulums. 12. Piano
inclinato di Galilei/Galileis inclined plane. Strumenti del Laboratorio di Fisica/Instruments from Physics Laboratory - Liceo Ginnasio Statale
G. Parini, Milano.
15
GALILEI E LASTRONOMIA
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15
14
13
18
16
17
19
13. Quadrante equinoziale universale/Universal equinoctial dial, Nicolas Bion, Paris, 16901720. 14. Quadrante dittico francese/French diptych
dial, France, 1650. 15. Telescopio gregoriano/Gregorian telescope, Peter Dollond, London, 1780 1810. 16. Microscopio per naturalisti/
Naturalists microscope, England, 1798-1830. 17. Quadrante solare cilindrico/Cylindrical sundial, H. Robert, France, 1834-1845. 18. Telescopio
da tavolo a rifrazione/ Table-top refracting telescope, Peter Dollond, London, 1730 1820. 19. Cannocchiale portatile/ Portable telescope,
L. Semitecolo, Italia, 17001750. Strumenti del/Instruments from Universit degli Studi di Milano.
17
21
20
23
22
24
20. Grafometro a pinnule/ Pinnulated graphometer, France, 1650-1700. 21. Grafometro/Graphometer, Pierre Lemaire, Paris, 1788. 22. Diottra o
Tavoletta pretoriana/Diopter, or Pretorian table, G. Allemano, Italy, 1874. 23. Completo per geometri/Geometricians kit, N.C. Pixii, France, 18401860. 24. Goniometro/Goniometer, D. Lusverg, Rome, 1693. Strumenti del/Instruments from Universit degli Studi di Milano.
18
25
25. Pompa a vuoto/Vacuum pump, Dumotiez Frres, France, 1790-1820. Strumento del/Instrument from Universit degli Studi di Milano.
19
GALILEO GALILEI
messaggero della nuova scienza
messenger of the new science
Universit degli Studi di Milano
Istituto di Fisica Generale Applicata
Sezione di Storia della Fisica
dal 28 novembre 2005
al 31 gennaio 2006
Milano, Via Brera 28
Comitato scientifico
Pasquale Tucci
Raimonda Riccini
Leonardo Gariboldi
Marcella Mattavelli
Allestimento
Saving Srl
Si ringraziano
Andrea Silvestri
Davide Cenadelli
Antonella Testa
Riccardo Nigro
Cristina Olivotto
Davide Pasinetti
Liceo Ginnasio Statale G. Parini, Milano
Stampa
Mastergraph, Milano