The Starry Messenger

4 Pages 901 Words

I cannot recall its origin but there is an old adage that says one’s way of thinking and speculating depends on his/her perspective. There is no need argue about its validity for I am sure everyone would agree from their own experience. With the adage said above, I would like to propose a theory that there was a great gap between Galileo’s way of thinking and those of others (like the priests at Vatican and people who worshiped the Aristotelian philosophies) for the difference in their perspective was far greater than anyone can imagine. It is no exaggeration to state that no one has spent as much time looking up the night sky as Galileo in his time. Everyone who has looked up the constellation in the night sky without an aid of any instrument would see that the full moon appears perfectly round. And given that those people have not been taught about the modern astronomy, it would be difficult to convince them that it is otherwise. One can only wonder how difficult it mu!
st have been for Galileo and his colleagues to convince their opposers. As obviously as it may sound, Galileo’s sole purpose of using detailed illustrations and diagrams within his Starry Messenger was to convince its readers; and an attempt to prevent any possible refutations as much as possible. The illustrations and diagrams were his hard-earned evidence that is also backed up by his countless observations and written documents.
In “The Scientific Revolution,” Shapin discusses about “the natural machine,” and quotes several mathematicians and scientists. For the sake of an impending argument, the French mathematician and philosopher René Descartes announced that “there is no difference between the machines built by artisans and the diverse bodies that nature alone composes.” (Shapin 32)
When I reached the last page of the Starry Messenger and felt relieved, I came across a sentence that struck me. “It is known that the interpos...