伽利略·伽利雷――西方科学之父

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 common framework.

Amy Mainzer （Scientist at JPL注）： Probably more than anyone else， Galileo was really the person responsible for[造成……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……形成对比] what Aristotle would have 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 have to do more than just think something’s true， you have 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 heavens.

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。