The creation of the Darprojector

Alongside Leonardo da Vinci, Galileo Galilei played a major role in the scientific revolution during the Renaissance. Due to his contributions, Galileo has been called the “father of observational astronomy”, “the father of modern physics”, and the “father of science.”

Born in February 15, 1564, Galieo was born to Vincenzo Galilei and Giulia Ammanannati. Though his family belonged to nobility, they were by no means rich. Interestingly enough, Galileo bears the name of one his family’s ancestors, Galileo Bonaiuti, a physician, university teacher and politician who lived in Florence from 1370 to 1450. his family changed their surname from Bonaiuti to Galilei in his honor. Galileo Bonaiuti is also buried in the Basilica of Santa Croce.

In 1581, Galileo enrolled at the University of Pisa on the urging of his father, who hoped his son would study medicine. During one of his classes, Galileo observed a swinging chandelier and noted  that the chandelier took the same amount of time to swing back and forth no matter how far it was swinging. This observation eventually led to Galileo’s study of pendulums. It would not be until 1602 that Galileo would make his notable discovery regarding the pendulum- that the time which the pendulum takes to swing back and forth is independent of the arc of the swing. This discovery would eventually lead Galileo to further study time intervals and create his idea for a pendulum clock.

Through his classes at the University of Pisa, Galileo was exposed to the works of Aristotle. Galileo used the works of Aristotle to inspire many of his studies. For example, Galileo questioned Aristotle's belief that heavier objects fall faster through a medium than ;lighter ones. Through several experiments Galileo eventually disproved the idea and found that all objects, regardless of density, fall at the same rate through a vacuum. Aristotle's also had a well established matter theory regarding hot and cold but no true method of measuring heat. Galileo found a solution to this problem through his creation of the thermoscope- a forrunner to the thermometer.

Galileo's most famous invention was the telescope. His first telescope was made in 1609, could magnify images up to three times. Later that same, year he was able to create a telescope that allowed him to magnify images up to twenty times. It was with this powerful telescope that he was able to accomplish the great astrological feats for which he is remembered. With the power of his new and improved telescope, Galileo's observed the moon, discovered four satellites of Jupiter, observed a supernova, verify phases of venus, and discover sunspots.

In 1543 Copernicus wrote a book titled On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Bodies. In his book, Copernicus theorized that if the earth were in motion, the Earth would revolve around the son. His hypothesis known as heliocentrism went against the common belief of geocentrism- that the earth was the center of the universe and the the sun revolved around the earth. Through his discoveries, Galileo proved Copernicus's hypothesis to be correct and for this he would suffer. After publishing his findings, Galileo was summoned before the Roman Inquisition and accused of reinterpreting the Bible. He was convicted of heresy and it would not be until the late 1900’s.

For our project, Olive and I were inspired by Galileo's observations of the moon. In order to make these observations, Galileo needed to construct his own telescope and in the same spirit I researched the history of telescopes and constructed my own projector a modern twist to Galileo's telescope.

Galileo + Astronomy Project

Born on February 15, 1564 in Pisa, Italy, Galileo Galilei would eventually become one of history’s greatest thinkers. Although controversial in his own lifetime, Galileo’s astronomical discoveries – in conjunction with those of Johannes Kepler and Nicolaus Copernicus – ignited a scientific paradigm shift in the last century of the Renaissance. Combined with his work in math, physics, astronomy, engineering, and philosophy, Galileo’s astronomical breakthroughs molded our modern understanding of the Earth and the infinity that lies beyond it. So strong are Galileo’s influences that he has been hailed as both “father of science” and “father of observational astronomy.”

Decades before his renowned astronomical studies, Galileo Galilei moved to Florence, Italy at nine years old, where he would begin formal education at the Calmaldolese Monastery in Vallombrosa. Armed with clear intellect and talent, Galileo entered the University of Pisa ten years later to study medicine, but would never finish his degree. Allegedly, upon accidentally attending a Geometry lecture, Galileo was so fascinated by mathematics that he changed his entire course of study. Only a few years later, in 1589, he would be appointed chair of mathematics in Pisa. In 1592, he moved to the University of Padua where he taught geometry, mechanics, and astronomy until 1610. During this period of time began Galileo’s significant discoveries in fundamental, astronomical, and even astrological sciences.

In 1610 – with the use of his newly engineered telescope, 20X stronger than any other before it – he made observations of 4 objects surrounding Jupiter that behaved unlike stars. These “satellites” turned out to be Jupiter’s four largest moons: Io, Callisto, Europa and Ganymede. They were later renamed the Galilean satellites in honor of Galileo himself. This discovery, in conjunction with his observations of the phases of Earth’s moon, led Galileo to accept and make early confirmations of Heliocentrism. For his eager defense of it, Galileo would be excommunicated from the Catholic Church, ridiculed by many, and put on house arrest for the remainder of his life. He would not be pardoned for his truths until the late 20^th century…

Inspired by Galileo’s groundbreaking observations of Jupiter’s four moons, our project hoped to somehow incorporate them. Greatly influenced by Galileo’s visionary discovery of 4 of Jupiter’s many moons, this collaborative project attempts to created a dialogue between the diametrically opposed notions of primitive and contemporary understandings of space. Interested in the banality with which the fact of these discoveries are treated, the piece addresses the complexity and implications of these astronomical discoveries whilst also alluding to the unfathomable nature of such ascertainments.

Though Galileo dedicated these moons to the Medici family, They were subsequently given the names of Europa, Io, Ganymede, and Callisto, (given by Simon Marius whom made the same discoveries around the same time), based on the stories of Jupiter (Zeus) in Greek mythology. Each respective tale tells of Jupiter, disguising himself in various forms in the pursuit of the abduction of Zeus’ lovers. In incorporating the notions of associating orbital/celestial bodies with feats in scientific discovery, our work attempts to merge the ethereal sense of spacial discovery in the renaissance, with the empirical digestion of such matters in a contemporary environment. The 4 compositions (named simply numerically in referencing Galileo’s refusal to adopt the mythological names of these celestial bodies) reference some of the most famed renditions of these allegorical tales (such as Correggio’s The Abduction Of Ganymede) in highlighting the ubiquity of the Greek allegorical paradigm throughout the vast expanse of renaissance art, discovery and life. 

Playing on the dichotomy between the astounding size of these 4 moons and the limited fashion in which they could be perceived at the time of their discovery, the humble 

blog post 3

Blog Post 3 – Galileo Museum & Project 3

Origins of Art & Science

Johee Kwak

Lia Halloran

January 23 2016

The Galileo Galilei Museum ignited my interests about navigation, astronomy, physics, and medicine. It was a perfect place for us curious students to get a close up of Galileo’s inventions. The museum included Terrestrial and celestial globes, barometers, compasses, telescopes, thermometers, astrolabes, armillary sphere, and the original instruments designed and built by Galileo himself. This is the only place in the world where the gadgets made by Galileo are stored. Moreover, complete scientific collections from the Houses of Medici and Lorraine are also displayed.

Walking through the museum, I was exposed to several halls, which underscored the studies of medicine, astronomy, navigation, war, experiments, physics, biology, mechanics, optics, pneumatics, electricity, electromagnetism, atmosphere, and chemistry.

The first floor was devoted to the Medici collections, which dates back from the 15^th century through the 18^th century. The permanent exhibitions include all of Galileo’s artifacts including his two telescopes, thermometer, and his extraordinary collections of the celestial and terrestrial globe.  The second floor of the museum housed instruments and experimental collections including the progress of electricity, electromagnetism, and chemistry. There were also wax models in glass cases, which reminded me of La Specola, that were from Santa Maria Nuova Hospital. The Grand Duke’s chemistry cabinet was also displayed alongside with spectacular machines that were used to portray the fundamental laws of physics.

Room after room, I was able to grasp the challenges and questions that were posed in the past which was not an easy task – how to measure time by day and by night, the problem of longitude for navigation purposes, the birth of science of warfare correlated to the expansion of firearms that transformed the battlefield in geometric studies—it goes on forever!

In particular, the telescopes, astrolabes, and the representations of the earth and the stars were the most fascinating aspects of the museum.  For the final project, Tessa and I teamed up to make a close up observation of the planet Venus, which was first observed and found by Galileo. Without his knowledge of science and the invention of his telescope, he would not have been able to observe the phases of Venus, let alone confirm Copernicus’ theory that the universe had a heliocentric model. We were inspired by the anamorphic art collection from the museum but decided to add our own twist to it by not directly creating anamorphic art, but employing a similar concept by making two completely separate drawings that mimic each other visually. Our project was divided into two different pieces. The first piece focused on the observations and limitations Galileo had on the study of Venus. The telescope helped him greatly in understanding the planet in relation to the Sun and the solar system, but this also came with constraints in that there were limits as to how close he can get to Venus. Therefore, the first part of the piece includes Galileo’s findings of Venus, including the phases of Venus and the exterior detail of the planet itself. The second piece was a close up observation that we can make of Venus today. Back then, Galileo’s understanding of the plane was limited to telescopes, but today there are countless of space missions that have been conducted to better understand it. In doing so, we were able to pull up a close-up detail of Venus’ surface as well as its core and crust, using an app via NASA. With that, we attempted to create an abstract collage using the different parts and levels of Venus. This enabled us to get a magnified detail on the texture of Venus including the mountain like structures that exist on the planet, something Galileo could not have concluded in his studies. We also incorporated Botticelli’s depiction of Venus from “The Birth of Venus” as well as Tiziano’s  painting of Venus, both of which we saw at the Uffizi. By incorporating the mythical aspects of Venus onto the contemporary landscape, we aimed to create a sense of life to a planet that is deemed to be inhabitable.  

Galileo Project

Though the telescope, or the spyglass, was first invented by the Austrians for warfare, Galileo was the first person to improve and use the telescope for astronomy. It was 1609 when Galileo first made made his own telescope, which allowed him to see with a magnification of eight or nine times. In comparison, spyglasses of the day only provided a magnification of three. He first discovered Jupiter in 1609 or 1610, and its 4 moons, now named the Galilean Satellites. Galileo's discovery showed the importance of the telescope as a tool for astronomers, proving that there were objects in space, so far away, that they could not be seen by the naked eye. More importantly and famously, Galileo was the first to discover the Heliocentric model for our solar system, the model in which the earth and the planets revolve around the sun. His theory was seriously controversial during the 17th century because it went against the then largely accepted Ptolemaic world system, which stated everything orbited around Earth. He was tried by the Inquisition for being suspected of heresy, forced to recant, and spent the rest of his life under house arrest.

Apart from Jupiter, Galileo also observed the moon, the sun and discovered many new stars. He was the first person to observe sunspots, the moon’s surface and discovered Neptune, thinking it was only a dim star. He had published a short astronomical treatise called the Sidereus Nuncius, the Starry Message, on March 13th, 1610. This document is considered the first publication on observable astronomy. Today, Galileo is considered the “father of observational astronomy”.  

A current phenomenon that influenced me was the current alignment of planets in the sky. From January 20th through February 20th, five plants could be seen in our night night sky in a straight line: Mercury, Venus, Mars, Saturn and Jupiter. Astronomers use the term "planetary alignment" to only say that some planets are in the same general region of the sky, not that they are literally lined up. There is actually no astronomical significance for this alignment that we can see with our naked eye. The planets are not really lined up at all, but scattered around one quarter of the solar system. However, this interesting phenomenon is considered a rare sight because it only happens every decade.

While me and many other stargazers observe the night sky for this planetary alignment in 2016, I was curious as to what Galileo might have seen in the sky when he was busy observing his own sky in 1609. Today, with the use of our smartphones, we can observe the planets and the stars wherever we are in the world, but in his time Galileo had only one homemade telescope and was also one of the very few people to study the sky. For my project, I’ve decided to commemorate Galileo by marking the planetary alignment of the same five planets that he would have saw in the sky in 1609. Next to this, I’ve decided to mark mark the planetary alignment that we can see right at this very moment.

Galileo, Stars and Space

Galileo Galilei, a name that was meant to sound lyrical, is now known by just his first name. Galileo was the son of a well known musician Vincenzo Galilei and grew up in Florence. He attended the University of Pisa with the intention of studying medicine, in accordance to his father's wishes because, as the firstborn son, it was his duty to take care of his family when his father no longer could. However, he soon found that there was a certain order in nature, that it was governed by unseen laws which could only be fully understood through the study of mathematics.

Despite being very intelligent, Galileo had no passion for medicine so he abandoned those studies and focused on studying math. At the age of 19, Galileo had written about a mathematical law, which is now known as the law of the pendulum that talks about the time of each swing of the pendulum. He concluded this by timing the swings of a chandelier with his pulse and noting that they were equal in length up until all motion ceased. At the age of 19 I didn't even know what I wanted to major in.

People often attribute the invention of the telescope to him, but he did not invent it. He perfected it, in other words, the telescope was virtually a toy before Galileo made his own lens. Using that, he made many discoveries about the skies most of which opposed the ideas of the church and Aristotle. Nonetheless, Galileo was steadfast in his assertions and now most of what we know today comes from his writings.  

One of the most amazing things about Galileo, other than his extensive knowledge, is that he had the confidence to make claims that he knew would be controversial. No second guessing, no doubting, he knew what he saw and he knew it to be true. Thanks to him, we have made many advances in space study and mapping out the stars.

Now we have 88 known constellations that are named after different mythological beings and stories. The two that I picked for my project were Canis Major and Canis Minor. Laelaps, a magical dog destined to never surrender a chase, was sent out by Cephalus to hunt down a fox (Canis Minor), who was destined to never be caught. In order to resolve the contradicting fates, Zeus placed them among the stars on different sides of the sky, resulting in a chase that goes on eternally. Dogs have been the faithful companions to people for thousands of years.

Galileo Project

Starting off as an art teacher, Galileo began his career by becoming a master in understanding how to look at things. He was an observational artist and taught his students how dimension, shadow, and perspective worked. This vast knowledge of space and how we see it aided him in understanding outer space and our solar system. Although Galileo did not invent the telescope, he revolutionized it by turning it to the sky and realizing that the lenses needed to be curved in order to see with maximum strength. He sanded the lens down to do so and was able to make some of the first observations about our solar system, which were immensely accurate and amazing discoveries for this time. He realized, purely based on his observations of the night sky, that the moon had phases. He also realized that Jupiter had moons and that other plants had phases. By observing these things over time, Galileo was able to deduce that the earth was not in fact at the center of our galaxy, it was most likely the sun. This he proposed a heliocentric understanding of the universe, where it had been previously thought as geocentric, which meant everything revolved around the earth. The Catholic Church, however, was not fond of this idea because it meant gods creation was not the center of the universe and assigned Galileo to house arrest for the remainder of his life. Despite this, he continued to make amazing observations along with Kepler, another scientist at the time. The two exchanged coded messages about their work and observations, very tediously because scientific journals did not exist at the time and all of their information was private and sacred. What they discovered was amazing but there have been leaps and bounds in understanding the Galaxy we live in and the vastness of the universe. I greatly appreciated the knowledge that Galileo provided but was also very interested in what he couldn't see and understand. There are so many dimensions to the universe that are incomprehensible to any human and just simply too vast to understand. In my project, I wanted to convey this hidden knowledge in conjunction with what we can observe to create a slightly abstracted representation of the confusion of the observable universe and how we try to understand it. I was immediately drawn to constellations because of their interesting history and ties to Greek mythology. There are 88 variations of constellations broken down into 12 different groups. I have chosen a random representative from each group and abstracted the shape slightly, but allowed the viewer to understand that they are stars by the white paper and rays of light emanating from them. I have taken these constellations and layered them among twelve hexagons, which if arranged with each side touching would create a three dimensional enclosed shape of a dodecagon. This enclosed object would represent the understandable universe but I have broken it down to different plains of existence in which each constellation resides, however I have overlapped them to show the difficult in understanding the dimensions in which they exist. They overlap and interact and are hard to understand, just like the universe we live in.

Astronomy

Astronomy 

The Renaissance was a time full of invention, art, and science. The 1600's brought so many scientific discoveries and inventions that changed the world. Galileo Galilei was among the most influential and important people during that time. He has been referred to as the "father of observational astronomy" and of modern physics. With the help of a telescope, Galileo made a number of discoveries in the sky. Along with confirming the phases of Venus, the observation and recording of sunspots, and discovering Jupiters four satellites, Galileo also made notable contributions to engineering, physics, and mathematics. He started out on the path to be a professor at university, but due to insufficient funds, he had to change his plan. He stopped school before he got his degree, but this was a silver lining in a way because he had more time to make in depth studies of falling objects, etc. Some of Galileo's observations were very controversial, however, and got him into some trouble. The main one was his belief that  the planets revolved around the sun, which opposed the Catholic Church. He kept supporting this Copernican theory and wrote about it. The inquisition lasted a while and he was eventually convicted of heresy and had to spend his time under house arrest. Even though he was under house arrest and wasn't supposed to continue his studies or make contact with the outside world, he kept doing that anyways. In his remaining years, Galileo wrote a summary of his life's work and had it published, which is why he is such an inspiring man. 

In order to combine both old and contemporary observational and technological techniques in astronomy, Darpan and I collaborated to create a multi-faceted project. The seven drawings and writings I did were of the history of the moon according to scientists of their time. This history starts in the 300's BC with Aristotle and ends with Galileo in the early 1600's. The first is a theory by Aristotle that the lunar sphere is the only one that comes in contact with the sublunary orbs terrestrial matter. The second is about how the tides are caused by the moon and its position relative to the sun. The third is a bunch of fairly accurate observations of the moon made in Baghdad by Habash al-Hasib al-Marwazi. Next is a comparison made by Shen Kuo in the early 1000's that compares the moon to a sphere covered in white powder that makes the sphere look round because of the crescent the powder and light creates. Some time after, William Gilbert made the first map of the moon with his naked eye and basically mapped the light and dark areas of the moon. About 20 years later, a lesser known astronomer, Thomsas Harriot, made the first map of the moon with a telescope. It is often thought that Galileo was the first to make a map of the moon from a telescope, but it was in fact Harriot. The last drawing is of Galileo's watercolor observations of the moon from his homemade telescope. Then, to continue with the history but in a more technological sense, Darpan drew telescopes designed by different scientists and astronomers that had significance in the advancement of telescopes. Her telescopes pick up where mine left off - at Galileo. We did this because Galileo is recorded as the first to draw the moon with the aid of a telescope so the technology aspect really picks up there. It goes to modern times and ends with the Darprojector, a homemade projector used to draw the moon - similar to what Galileo did.