本站原创Galileo Galilei was a mathematician[数学家], physicist[物理学家], philosopher and astronomer[天文学家]. He is often considered the father of modern science.
Paul Ronney （Professor of Aerospace & Mechanical Engineering, University of Southern California）： Galileo was the one who really put together the principles[法则,原理] of experiment, theory and mathematics together into a mon framework.
Amy Mainzer （Scientist at JPL注）： Probably more than anyone else, Galileo was really the person responsible for[造成等的原因] developing modern astronomy[天文学].
Galileo was born in Pisa, Italy, in 1564. He was educated in a Jesuit[耶稣会信徒] monastery[修道院]. Before he studied medicine at the University of Pisa, Galileo first gained fame when he discovered what is now called the law of the pendulum[钟摆].
Dr. Laura Danly （Curator, Griffith Observatory[天文台]）： One day in the cathedral[大教堂] he was watching the lamps that were hanging from the ceiling and saw them swaying back and forth, and started thinking about the nature of a pendulum.
Ronney： He found that the amplitude[振幅] of the swaying doesn’t matter, but the length of the pendulum does, and this became the genesis[起源] of regulation[校准] of clocks, for which he became instantly[立即地] famous.
Galileo also gained fame by supposedly using the leaning Tower of Pisa to prove the law of constant acceleration[等加速度].
Ronney： It’s said that Galileo dropped two steel balls of different masses[质量] but the same material from the leaning Tower of Pisa, and they landed at the same time, in contrast to[和等形成对比] what Aristotle would he predicted. Mainzer： What’s important about this is not only the result but the fact that he ushered[开创] in this new method of doing science, where you conduct an experiment to test a hypothesis[假设]. He showed that you he to do more than just think something’s true, you he to prove it.
In 1609, Galileo heard about a telescope built by a Dutch eyeglass-maker. He soon built his own, 32 times more powerful, and started studying the heens.
Danly： When Galileo looked at Jupiter[木星] through a telescope, he discovered four tiny, little lights that seemed to circle Jupiter. Those are what are now referred to as the Galileian moons.
Ronney： This confirmed Copernicus’ idea that celestial[天上的] bodies rotate each other. He also looked at Venus[金星] and found that it had phases[相位].
Mainzer： This discovery was revolutionary because it really proved, beyond the shadow of a doubt[毫无疑问], that the earth is not the center of the universe. During his life Galileo published his findings in several manuscripts[手稿]. Most of these earned him the ire[愤怒] of the Catholic Church, which eventually labelled him a heretic[异端者]. He was sentenced to house arrest[软禁在家] for the last years of his life, and died on January 8th, 1642.
Danly： Galileo was really the father of Western science. Prior to[在前] his time there really was not the same sensibility[敏感性] of experimental science. Galileo is fundamentally responsible for what we know about the universe today.
伽利略伽利雷是一位数学家、物理学家、哲学家以及天文学家.他常常被视为现代科学之父.
保罗罗尼（南加州大学航空与机械工程教授）：伽利略是第一个真正将实验、理论以及数学原理放到同一个框架中的人.
艾米迈因策尔（喷气推进实验室科学家）：大概更胜于其他人,伽利略才是真正促使现代天文学发展的奠基人.
1564年,伽利略在意大利比萨出生,并在一所耶稣会开设的修道院里接受教育.在他去比萨大学学医之前,伽利略由于发现了一个定律而名声大噪,就是我们现在所称的“钟摆原理”.
劳拉丹利博士（格里菲斯天文台馆长）：有一天,他在教堂里看着从天花板垂下来的吊灯,看见它们摇来摇去,便开始思考钟摆的原理.
罗尼：他发现摇摆的幅度并不重要,关键在于钟摆的长度,而这成为了校准钟表的起源,他因此一夜成名.
伽利略的名气还来自于传说中他利用比萨斜塔进行假设,证明了等加速度定律.
罗尼：据说伽利略将不同质量、但材质相同的铁球从比萨斜塔上扔下来,两个球同时落地,这与亚里士多德预测的说法并不相符.
迈因策尔：这个实验的重要性并不仅仅在于其结果,还在于他引领了一种崭新的科学研究方法――要测试一个假设（是否正确）,你得进行实验.他让大家明白到,光认为一件事是真的还不够,你得证明出来才行.
1609年,伽利略听说有一个荷兰眼镜制造者造了一架望远镜.他随即制作了自己的望远镜,倍率比那架高了32倍,他还开始研究起天空来.
丹利：当伽利略用望远镜观察木星时,他发现木星周围有四个小小的光点,似乎围绕着木星运动――那就是我们现在所说的伽利略卫星.
罗尼：这一发现证实了哥白尼的观点,即天体围绕着其他天体运动.伽利略还对金星进行了观察,发现它具有各种位相.
迈因策尔：这是一个革命性的发现,因为它证实了――毫无疑问,地球并不是宇宙的中心.
终其一生,伽利略将自己的各种发现写成手稿出版.他的大多数著作让天主教会对他非常恼火,最终将他判为异端者,判处其余生软禁在家.伽利略于1642年1月8日去世.
丹利：伽利略确实是西方科学之父.在他以前的年代,没有人拥有这样的实验科学观.我们今天对宇宙的了解,从根本上要归功于伽利略.