A Guest at the Ludlow, and Other Stories

by Bill Nye

  A MEDIEVAL DISCOVERER

  XXI

  Galilei, commonly called Galileo, was born at Pisa on the 14th day ofFebruary, 1564. He was the man who discovered some of the fundamentalprinciples governing the movements, habits, and personal peculiaritiesof the earth. He discovered things with marvelous fluency. Born as hewas, at a time when the rotary motion of the earth was still in itsinfancy and astronomy was taught only in a crude way, Galileo started into make a few discoveries and advance some theories of which he was veryfond.

  He was the son of a musician and learned to play several instrumentshimself, but not in such a way as to arouse the jealousy of the greatmusicians of his day. They came and heard him play a few selections, andthen they went home contented with their own music. Galileo played forseveral years in a band at Pisa, and people who heard him said that hismanner of gazing out over the Pisan hills with a far-away look in hiseye after playing a selection, while he gently up-ended his alto hornand worked the mud-valve as he poured out about a pint of moist melodythat had accumulated in the flues of the instrument, was simply grand.

  At the age of twenty Galileo began to discover. His first discoverieswere, of course, clumsy and poorly made, but very soon he commenced toturn out neat and durable discoveries that would stand for years.

  It was at this time that he noticed the swinging of a lamp in a church,and, observing that the oscillations were of equal duration, he inferredthat this principle might be utilized in the exact measurement of time.From this little accident, years after, came the clock, one of the mostuseful of man's dumb friends. And yet there are people who will readthis little incident and still hesitate about going to church.

  _It was at this time that he noticed the swinging of alamp in a church, and observing that the oscillations were of equalduration_ (Page 202)]

  Galileo also invented the thermometer, the microscope and theproportional compass. He seemed to invent things not for the money to beobtained in that way, but solely for the joy of being first on theground. He was a man of infinite genius and perseverance. He was alsovery fair in his treatment of other inventors. Though he did notpersonally invent the rotary motion of the earth, he heartily indorsedit and said it was a good thing. He also came out in a card in which hesaid that he believed it to be a good thing, and that he hoped some dayto see it applied to the other planets.

  He was also the inventor of a telescope that had a magnifying power ofthirty times. He presented this to the Venetian senate, and it was usedin making appropriations for river and harbor improvements.

  By telescopic investigation Galileo discovered the presence of microbesin the moon, but was unable to do anything for it. I have spoken of Mr.Galileo, informally calling him by his first name, all the way throughthis article, for I feel so thoroughly acquainted with him, though therewas such a striking difference in our ages, that I think I am justifiedin using his given name while talking of him.

  Galileo also sat up nights and visited with Venus through a longtelescope which he had made himself from an old bamboo fishing-rod.

  But astronomy is a very enervating branch of science. Galileo frequentlycame down to breakfast with red, heavy eyes, eyes that were swollen fullof unshed tears. Still he persevered. Day after day he worked andtoiled. Year after year he went on with his task till he had worked outin his own mind the satellites of Jupiter and placed a small tin tag oneach one, so that he would know it readily when he saw it again. Then hebegan to look up Saturn's rings and investigate the freckles on the sun.He did not stop at trifles, but went bravely on till everybody came formiles to look at him and get him to write something funny in theirautograph albums. It was not an unusual thing for Galileo to get up inthe morning, after a wearisome night with a fretful, new-born star, tofind his front yard full of albums. Some of them were little red albumswith floral decorations on them, while others were the large plush andalligator albums of the affluent. Some were new and had the price-markstill on them, while others were old, foundered albums, with a droop inthe back and little flecks of egg and gravy on the title-page. All camewith a request for Galileo "to write a little, witty, characteristicsentiment in them."

  Galileo was the author of the hydrostatic paradox and other sketches. Hewas a great reader and a fluent penman. One time he was absent fromhome, lecturing in Venice for the benefit of the United Aggregation ofMutual Admirers, and did not return for two weeks, so that when he gotback he found the front room full of autograph albums. It is said thathe then demonstrated his great fluency and readiness as a thinker andwriter. He waded through the entire lot in two days with only two menfrom West Pisa to assist him. Galileo came out of it fresh and youthful,and all of the following night he was closeted with another inventor, awicker-covered microscope, and a bologna sausage. The investigationswere carried on for two weeks, after which Galileo went out to theinebriate asylum and discovered some new styles of reptiles.

  Galileo was the author of a little work called "I Discarsi eDimas-Trazioni Matematiche Intorus a Due Muove Scienze." It was a neatlittle book, of about the medium height, and sold well on the trains,for the Pisan newsboys on the cars were very affable, as they are now,and when they came and leaned an armful of these books on a passenger'sleg and poured into his ear a long tale about the wonderful beauty ofthe work, and then pulled in the name of the book from the rear of thelast car, where it had been hanging on behind, the passenger would mostalways buy it and enough of the name to wrap it up in.

  He also discovered the isochronism of the pendulum. He saw that thependulum at certain seasons of the year looked yellow under the eyes,and that it drooped and did not enter into its work with the old zest.He began to study the case with the aid of his new bamboo telescope anda wicker-covered microscope. As a result, in ten days he had thependulum on its feet again.

  Galileo was inclined to be liberal in his religious views, moreespecially in the matter of the Scriptures, claiming that there werepassages in the Bible which did not literally mean what the translatorsaid they did. This was where Galileo missed it. So long as hediscovered stars and isochronisms and such things as that, he succeeded,but when he began to fool with other people's religious beliefs he gotinto trouble. He was forced to fly from Pisa, we are told by thehistorian, and we are assured at the same time that Galileo, who hadalways been far, far ahead of all competitors in other things, wasequally successful as a fleer.

  Galileo received but sixty scudi per year as his salary while at Pisa,and a part of that he took in town orders, worth only sixty cents on thescudi.