Abstract
The scientists of the 16th and 17th century had to prove their work in order for it to be accepted by the church. Many of Galileo's theories defied the church's theories on topics like color, the placement of the planets, and the motions of gravity. During the 16th century the church had enough power to enforce it's theories throughout the kingdom, and anyone who defied these theories without proof could be charged with heresy. Galileo's work was attacked, because there was no clear proof on any of it. After Galileo's death, Newton was able to continue Galileo's unproven work. Newton was able to prove Galileo's work. Galileo's theories are put into work today, most of it as Newton's work.
Galileo and Newton
In the last millennium many great minds have come and gone. They created the ideals and beliefs that people follow today. The ideas and beliefs led to improvements and inspiration for others to follow. Scientists created theories to explain life's great mysteries and relate to other mysteries in life. Many scientists in the past, feared coming up with theories that differed from the views of the church. Galileo was one of the great scientists who could not prove most of his beliefs, and feared being accused of heresy. Though most of his ideas were not proven, Isaac Newton was inspired by Galileo's work and continued to improve on Galileo's ideas. Galileo influenced Newton by leaving theories on the differences between the mysteries of color, the center of the universe, and the motions of gravity.
Mysteries of Color
Before the Renaissance many people followed the beliefs of Aristotle. When the Age of Enlightenment came, the church adopted the ideas of Aristotle and believed that colors were a mixture of light and darkness (Mason, 2001). Colors were created depending on the mix of light or lack of light (Mason, 2001). Galileo believed that light and darkness, had nothing to do with colors. Darkness was the absence of light in a certain spot, rather than a creating a color through mixture of containing those two elements (Mason, 2001). The people and church rejected his belief because he could not prove it. These events inspired Newton to find proof to the theory that he had adopted from Galileo. He tried an experiment involving a prism and a small amount of light and discovered that the light, which entered the prism and turned into an assortment of colors
against the wall (Mason, 2001). He concluded that a light ray could be bent, and would create a certain color (Mason, 2001). The experiment influenced Newton, through Galileo's unfinished work. Galileo left Newton work to finish, conclusions to ideas, which had stirred anger amongst the church.
Heliocentric
The church had adopted the time long respected theories of Aristotle. People remained confident that the earth was the center of the universe. Everything seemed visually smaller than the earth, and seemed to rotate around the earth. When Copernicus revealed his theory, it remained unproven and was hard to believe because the theory that people had already followed was much easier to understand. Galileo truly believed that Copernicus was correct that the sun was the center of the universe rather than earth. He used his telescope to find examples of how the earth was revolving around the sun. Many people did not believe Galileo's evidence, and thought that the planets and moons he saw through his telescope were only illusions (Hitzeroth, 1992; Heerboth, 1992). The Copernican theory lacked evidence, there was more proof needed in order to convince the church and skeptics that the earth was not the center of the universe. Newton started his experiment one day, while observing an apple fall off a tree. He thought if that apple could fall off a tree, then gravity might act on objects in anywhere near the planet (Hitzeroth, 1992; Heerboth, 1992). Newton's believed that earth could keep the moon near earth without causing it to crash into earth, and far enough in space that it would not lose it's gravitational pull on the moon (Hitzeroth, 1992; Heerboth, 1992). He believed there was a balance between earth's gravitational pull on the moon. Galileo believed that
his example of Jupiter's moons also revolved around other planets, and moons revolved around planets, then revolved around a greater general object at the center of all planets.
Motions of Gravity
Galileo still left a lot of work, which had not yet been proven. Galileo had created ideas, which differed from those of the church. No one was sure why objects descended to the ground, and were forced to believe the most logical theory. Aristotle believed that objects descended because that area was the most suitable area for that object to fall (Hitzeroth, 1994; Leon, 1994). Later Galileo disagreed with Aristotle's theory and believed that all objects descended at the same speed. No matter how much an object weighed it accelerated at the same speed and the only thing that made objects differ was the air resistance (Hitzeroth, 1994; Leon, 1994). Some objects caught air resistance much easier than others depending on the materials, which made up the object. Though this belief was approved, there was still more work which could continue to be done. Galileo's work could once again be improved by experimentation. His observations of the apple enabled Newton to make generalizations about the laws of motion. He could clearly show that every force would have its own motions and reactions through his observations of the apple and experimentation (Hitzeroth, 1994; Leon, 1994). The three laws of universal motion explained the characteristics of any force on an object.
Galileo influenced Newton by leaving theories on the differences between darkness and light, the center of the universe, and the motions of gravity. Though not all of Newton's work was focused on Galileo's unfinished theories, many of Newton's works were finishing Galileo's unfinished theories. Galileo and Newton remain some of
the world's greatest scientists. They both improved on the ideas which their predecessor's had believed in before. Galileo and Newton's theories continue to be used today.
Abstract
The scientists of the 16th and 17th century had to prove their work in order for it to be accepted by the church. Many of Galileo's theories defied the church's theories on topics like color, the placement of the planets, and the motions of gravity. During the 16th century the church had enough power to enforce it's theories throughout the kingdom, and anyone who defied these theories without proof could be charged with heresy. Galileo's work was attacked, because there was no clear proof on any of it. After Galileo's death, Newton was able to continue Galileo's unproven work. Newton was able to prove Galileo's work. Galileo's theories are put into work today, most of it as Newton's work.
