Jaarprogramma 2002-2003 | Home
Dinsdag 5 november 2002
Prof. Dr. A. van Helden (Universiteit Utrecht)
“Galileo and his Telescope: Luck or Genius?”
Galileo was the first to explore the heavens with a telescope. Between 1609 and 1612 he was the discoverer or co-discoverer of all the important phenomena that could be revealed by these early instruments. Was he just lucky to get a headstart on the competition, or was he a better scientist than his competitors? He was accused by his contemporaries of taking the invention of a Dutchman and making the instrument his “foster child.” His priority of discovery was challenged on several occasions, and he sometimes used abagrams to announce his discoveries. I will review Galileo’s celestial observations of this period as well as the methods he chose of publishing them, and I will argue that in more ways than one Galileo was the “first modern scientist.”