Bibliography

http://www.crystalinks.com/galileo.html
http://csep10.phys.utk.edu/astr161/lect/retrograde/copernican.html
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/copernicus/
http://www.lairweb.org.nz/leonardo/
Quantum Years 100 Scientist Who Changed the World, Jon Balchin, 2003 pp.36-39, 46-47
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Galileo's Discoveries

Recreation of Telescope

In the autumn of 1509 he began observing the heavens with his instrument. In december he drew a chart of the phases of the moon and discovered the surface to rough and bumpy. In January 1610 he discovered four of Jupiter's moons.

The discoveries were amazing and he produced a book in which he described them. He dedicated his book to Cosimo II de Medici, a person he had tutored in maths for many summers. He named the moons after the Medici family: the Medican Stars.

As a result of his discoveries, he became strong in his belief of Copernican theology. Something the Catholic Church didn't like.

The Life of Galileo Galilei

Galileo was born on 15th February 1564 in Pisa. He was the eledest son of Vincenzo Galilei, a musician.

The family moved to Florence, in the early 1570s. As a middle teen Galileo attended a monastery school at Vallombrase. Then he went to study the University of Pisa, where he was to study medicine, in 1581.

However he became interested in maths and decided to make philosophy and mathematics subjects his profession, much to his fathers protest. He then prepared himself to teach Aristotlian philosophy and maths. In 1585 Galilleo left the university without his degree and for many years he gave private lessons in maths subjects in Siena and Florence.

In 1584 he got the chair of mathematics at the University of Pisa. There he demonstrated that the Aristotelian theory of gravity was wrong. His attacks on Aristotle made him unpopular with his colleagues and his contract was not renewed. He then got the Chair of Mathematics at the University of Padua, where he taught for eight years.

What changed his life was learning that an instrument was being made in the Netherlands that allowed far away objects to appear near. Through trial and error he found the secret to the invention and made his own. He showed this to the Venetian Senate and was rewarded with doubling of his salary, which made him one of the Most paid professors at the university.

He made many discoveries with his telescope and started following the Copernican belief. The catholic church did not like his new idea so stopped from teaching and holding his belief. They sentenced him to home imprisonment for the rest of his life.

Galileo Galilei

Galileo agreed with Copernicus that the planet’s revolved around the sun, but was later forced to renounce his view. Galileo rejected the Aristotelian views of that day. The best example is Aristotle’s idea that heavy objects fall faster than lighter objects. Galileo repeated experiments to see if this was true. He would roll balls of different weights down a hill (and legend has it, dropping them from the Leaning Tower of Pisa) He found out that if an object was the same shape as the other it would drop at the same speed and hit the ground at the same time. He has also been credited with inventing the telescope, this is not true he only developed one from hearing a description of another one.

Copernicus Veiw - Heliocentrism

For almost 2000 years the Western World saw the solar system as earth centered, geocentric, this is thanks to Aristotle and Ptolemy. This not change until the 16th Centuary when, Nicolaus Copernicus would suggest his heliocentric model.

In his book On the Revolution of the Heavenly Bodies, which was pulished as Copernicus was on his deathbed. He proposed that the sun was the centre of the solar system, not the earth. This is called a heliocentric system or model.

In this ordering Earth is just another planet and the Moon orbits the Earth, not the sun.

The Life of Copernicus

Nicolaus Copernicus was born in Poland on 19th February 1473, the youngest of four children. His parents were Barbara Watzenrode and Nicolaus Copernicus.

In 1483 his father died, so he and his family moved in with, Lucas Watzenrode, his uncle. Lucas was a very successful cleric at the time and directed Copernicus's education. As the University of Cracow offered courses in mathematics, astrology and astronomy, Copernicus became interested in those subjects.

In 1495 Copernicus was elected as the canon of the Cathedral Chapter of Warmia, a position just under a bishop. This secured his financial situation for life and he assumed his position two years later. In 1496 he went to the University of Bologna to study canon law. While there he lived with Domenico Maria Novara the professor of astronomy and made his first observations of the stars.

Copernicus left Bologna in 1501, without getting his degree. The chapter approved another leave so he could study medicine at the University of Padua. He did not receive his medical degree, as it took three years to complete the course and Copernicus only had a two year leave of absence. He finally moved to his chapter in 1510 and stayed there for the rest of his life.

From the tower of the Cathedral he made observations, it was his observations that lead to him deducing that everything in the solar system revolved around the sun, heliocentric, and not around the earth, geocentric.

 

Nicolaus Copernicus

The Church approved of the centaury old theory that everything revolved around the earth. The man who proved that the planets revolved around the sun, was ironically a man of Christian faith. In fact it was his faith that lead Copernicus to question the current accepted theory of the day. What he thought was why would God create a hugely complicated system, as Ptolemy proposed, to explain how the planets revolve around the earth. When it would simpler, logical and far more graceful to have them revolve around the sun. he used his position to advance his studies. He would often use the cathedral tower to observe the stars. Copernicus struggled with publishing his work through fear of contradicting the bible.

Art Works

The most famous of all his paintings is the Mona Lisa. This is the only painting that is known to be certainly painted by Leonardo. But the thing that attracts people to the Mona Lisa is- who is the subject and what is the secret behind the smile?   

The Mona Lisa is distinguished by the lack of jewellery on the lady. It was common for paintings of the period to have elaborate jewellery on the subject. The Mona Lisa has a simple hairstyle and only a black veil.  There are however small loops on the neckline of the dress. Leonardo’s love of codes has people trying to uncover a meaning in the loops. Most painters had the subject sitting in a stiff position, this painting however shows Mona Lisa sitting in a relaxed position. This painting went against all the trends and traditions of the time, proving that Leonardo never followed traditions.



The Mona Lisa has become so famous that it is now protected by triplex glass; this was donated by the Japanese after its trip to Japan. It has agreed, internationally that the Mona Lisa is to stay at the Louvre in Paris, in order to stop theft and damage. X-rays on the Mona Lisa have revealed that there are three different versions underneath. No one is prepared to try and clean it as there is a chance of repairable damage.





The Life of Leonardo da Vinci

Leonardo da Vinci was born on April 15, 1452 in a small village called Vinci. His parents were; Caterina, a peasant, and Ser Piero d’Antnio, on official. He was a illegitimate child.

His father, Ser Piero d’Antonio, was quickly convinced to marry as was his mother. His mother married a cowherd. During that period illegitimate and legitimate children lived together, even in noble homes. Leonardo did not have half siblings until he was 24.

Even as child Leonardo was extremely gifted, often out sketching animals and plants, playing the lyre and was also strong in maths.

He was apprenticed to Andrea Verrocchio, a renowned; sculptor, goldsmith and painter. Under Verrocchio he learnt, grinding and mixing pigments, mixing colours, preparing panels, the actual act of painting, clay work and casting bronze. 

Although Leonardo is best known for his paintings, very few artists painted as little and drew as much as he. Over 10,000 drawings made by Leonardo have been found.

Leonardo also worked for the Duke of Milan. While he worked for the duke of Milan, Leonardo prepared an array of designs for weapons including, catapults, missiles, tank and even a submarine! In 1516, he moved to France where he was to work for King François I As the king did not require that he finish commissions, he spent most of time organising his notebooks. On occasion he had to produce plans for plays and festivals for the King.

 

Leonardo died on 2^nd May, 1519, a few weeks after his 67^th Birthday. He was buried in the Church of St.  Florentine, but his remains were scattered after the Religion Wars.

Leonardo da Vinci

Leonardo da Vinci is better known for his paintings i.e. Mona Lisa and the Last Supper.

He had many interests among them include: astronomy, palaeontology, hydrodynamics, aerodynamics and anatomy. In order to make many of his detailed sketches he had to dissect many human bodies, most were stolen.

His process started by asking a simple question and then observing the subject, and taking note on its behaviour. He would then repeat this many times until finally drawing a sketch and making a conclusion.

His work in aerodynamics led to his designs of flying machines, which had enough potential to actually fly, including a design for a helicopter, five hundred years before it became reality. He also realised that flying machines needed retractable landing gear to make it more aerodynamic

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