Many of Galileo’s discoveries were met with heavy opposition from the Catholic church of that time, and some of his books were banned. Most of the things the church did not agree with had something to do with how he perceived the universe.
In 1616, a book written by Galileo about heliocentric ideas was declared a heretic by the church, and it was banned. The church also ordered him not to teach any of his ideas and even had to refrain from deafening them.
But that is not the only thing he was interested in, and many quotes from Galileo about space are recorded in history. We will take a look at these quotes from Galileo about the universe and astronomy that made this inquisitive individual quite popular.
Quotes From Galileo About the Universe And Its Mysteries
“Infinities and indivisibles transcend our finite understanding, the former on account of their magnitude, the latter because of their smallness; Imagine what they are when combined.”
“I’ve loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night.”
“Nature is relentless and unchangeable, and it is indifferent as to whether its hidden reasons and actions are understandable to man or not.”
“If you could see the earth illuminated when you were in a place as dark as night, it would look to you more splendid than the moon.”
“Philosophy is written in that great book which ever lies before our eyes — I mean the universe — but we cannot understand it if we do not first learn the language and grasp the symbols in which it is written.”
Galileo’s Quotes About Astronomy
“It is a beautiful and delightful sight to behold the body of the Moon.”
“To command their professors of astronomy to refute their own observations is to command them not to see what they do see and not to understand what they do understand.”
“The Milky Way is nothing else but a mass of innumerable stars planted together in clusters.”
“The Bible shows the way to go to heaven, not the way the heavens go.”
“In my studies of astronomy and philosophy I hold this opinion about the universe, that the Sun remains fixed in the center of the circle of heavenly bodies, without changing its place; and the Earth, turning upon itself, moves around the Sun.”
“Spots are on the surface of the solar body where they are produced and also dissolved, some in shorter and others in longer periods. They are carried around the Sun; an important occurrence in itself.”
“The surface of the Moon is not smooth, uniform, and precisely spherical as a great number of philosophers believe it to be, but is uneven, rough, and full of cavities and prominences, being not unlike the face of the Earth, relieved by chains of mountains and deep valleys.”
“I therefore concluded, and decided unhesitatingly, that there are three stars in the heavens moving about Jupiter, as Venus and Mercury about the Sun; which at length was established as clear as daylight by numerous other observations.”
“In questions of science, the authority of a thousand is not worth the humble reasoning of a single individual.”
“We see only the simple motion of descent, since that other circular one common to the Earth, the tower, and ourselves remains imperceptible. There remains perceptible to us only that of the stone, which is not shared by us; and, because of this, sense shows it as by a straight line, always parallel to the tower, which is built upright and perpendicular upon the terrestrial surface.”
“The number of fixed stars which observers have been able to see without artificial powers of sight up to this day can be counted. It is therefore decidedly a great feat to add to their number, and to set distinctly before the eyes other stars in myriads, which have never been seen before, and which surpass the old, previously known stars in number more than ten times.”
What Can We Say About Galileo Galilei
After reading these quotes from Galileo, it is clear that he was a very inquisitive person who investigated everything he could not understand. The people of his time couldn’t understand how his mind worked because he was so much different from the average individual.
According to Wikipedia, he was called the father of modern observational astronomy and the physics of our time, and also of science. He even studied the principle of relativity, which made Albert Einstein a very popular physicist and a hero of modern-day physics.
It is clear that he was far ahead of most scientists and everyone else of his time, and that made him either popular or unpopular. His studies of the moon and other celestial objects in our solar system provided him with many answers, even with little tools at his disposal.
The lack of the proper tools was probably the reason he invented the telescope to satisfy his curiosity. To think that if his father did not convince him otherwise, he would have become a Catholic priest instead of a scientist.
Galileo also made several contributions to different disciplines of the science world, such as engineering, physics, and astronomy, to name but a few. The refracting telescope was one of his best, and he earned a decent income with many great inventions behind his name.
Wrap Up
Reading through the many quotes from Galileo makes it clear that he belonged in a more modern time with his curious mind. Still, he made many contributions that are still used in many different branches of science in our day and through the years.