SAN MARINO HONOURS GALILEO -- THE FATHER OF MODERN EXPERIMENTAL SCIENCE On 22 October the postal authority of the Republic of San Marino is issuing two € 0.70 stamps to remember the 450th birthday of early modern scientist Galileo Galilei who is deemed to be not only the father of the modern experimental science, but also a philosopher, a literary critic, a musician and a poet. He became a standard-bearer of the opposers of myopic dogmatism, supporter of research and progress and his discoveries are still today food for thought and study. In 1597, while in Padua, Galileo invented the compass for arithmetical and geometrical calculations. In 1609 Galileo Galilei showed to the government of Venice his telescope with which, for the first time, it was possible to have a clearer and closer view of the sky. Through his observations he refuted the Aristotelian geocentric view that the Earth was the center of the universe and that all heavenly bodies revolved around the Earth and supported astronomy’s model of heliocentricism, in which the Earth and planets revolve around a relatively stationary Sun at the center of the Solar System. This important discovery revolutionized modern science, but cost him freedom and needless, humiliating and cruel limitations and mental and physical stress as he was sentenced for heresy by the Inquisition Tribunal. On 31 October 1992, Pope John Paul II expressed regret for how the Galileo affair was handled, and acknowledged the errors committed by the Catholic Church tribunal that judged the scientific positions of Galileo Galilei. The two captivating San Marino stamps sum up some of Galileo’s major achievements.
Posted on: Tue, 07 Oct 2014 11:14:29 +0000
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