Episode #164- What Was The Galileo Affair? (Part II)

Our Fake History

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History, Education, Society & Culture

4.7 • 3.7K Ratings

🗓️ 18 October 2022

⏱️ 63 minutes

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Summary

Galileo is often credited with inventing the telescope, but he never made that claim. He simply whipped up his own take on the device and sold it to the Republic of Venice before his Dutch competitors could beat him to the punch. Galileo also gets credit for being the first person to point the telescope at the night sky. This is also untrue, but when he did start observing the moon, stars, and planets, his observations would turn astronomy on its head. In 1610 Galileo published Sidereus Nuncius, a short book outlining what had appeared to him through the lens of his telescope. The myth of Galileo would have us believe that these groundbreaking discoveries immediately put him in the crosshairs of Inquisition, but that wasn't really the case. Galileo's discoveries were celebrated by many clergymen, including the Pope, when they were first published. It would be more than two decades later when he found himself on trial for heresy. What changed? Tune-in and find out how angry Dutchmen, crystal spheres, and the Sages of the Order, all play a role in the story. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Transcript

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0:00.0	In 1609, Galileo Galilei seemed to be at a personal and professional plateau.
0:15.1	He had been the chair of mathematics at Padua University for 17 years.
0:20.4	After making a name for himself as a brilliant up and coming academic at the University
0:24.7	in his hometown of Pisa, Galileo had managed to secure the more prestigious post in Padua
0:30.7	in 1592.
0:32.9	The University and the entire town of Padua for that matter fell under the auspices of
0:38.6	the Serene Republic of Venice.
0:42.8	While historians usually place the height of Venetian power a few centuries before Galileo's
0:48.6	time, in the late 16th century, the city of Venice still commanded a large trading empire
0:54.7	throughout the Mediterranean.
0:56.6	Their navy was one of the most formidable in Europe, although it was now rivaled by
1:01.5	the likes of Spain.
1:04.7	The city had a reputation for easygoing attitudes, flexible boundaries between the classes, and
1:11.0	a world-class party scene.
1:14.2	In other words, it was Galileo's kind of town.
1:18.5	While a professor at Padua, he spent plenty of time in the big city, carousing with
1:23.8	his friends.
1:25.6	Along the way he ended up falling for a woman who, because of class concerns, he felt he
1:31.0	could not marry.
1:32.8	But that didn't stop him from having three children with her.
1:36.9	While Galileo was a respected professor, he was always struggling with money.
1:42.5	As the chair of mathematics, he made a respectable 500 crowns a year.
	...

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