Customer Reviews

Galileo and the Scientific Revolution (Science & Discovery)

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What a great book on Galileo told in an interesting story-like manner. There is a nice balance between his life and scientific work,nicely translated by Laura Fermi, widow of the famous Italian physicist Enrico Fermi of atomic reactor fame...I liked the short digressions to inform us of the times in which Galileo lived and struggled so much...The well-balanced view on the Inquisition which sentenced Galileo is nicely written...I have read five different books on Galileo---this is the best small-volume introduction to Galileo...essential reading for scientists and science teachers in high schools and colleges

Good book. Galileo's time at the University of Padua beginning in 1592 is critical information related to Nicholas of Cusa on indivisibles. In a footnote, Galiileo speaks of Cusa as the 'learned doctor.' Galileo says that Cusa spoke of imperceptible motions. Today, the imperceptible motion is called the 'principlre of least action.' This principle originates in the maximum-minimum principle of Cusa and was used in the geometry developed by Kepler on planetary force-free motions. From Cusa, Galileo learned that all God-made wholes have an infinite number of indivisible parts. Cusa, not Galileo, was thus the first modern scientist.

We can thus distinguish man-made wholes from God-made wholes. The man-made whole consist of a countable number of parts whereas the God-made whole has an uncountable number of parts. The man-made whole is often said to be 'the sum of its parts whereas the God-made whole is often said to be 'more than the sum of its parts.'

Based on the work of Cusa and Galileo, today's physical science can be challenged.