Galileo and Newton
2/4/97
Galileo believed the physical world to be bounded. He says that all
material things have "this or that shape" and are small or large in relation to
other things. He also says that material objects are either in motion or at
rest, touching or not touching some other body, and are either one in number,
or many. The central properties of the material world are mathematical and
strengthened through experimentation. Galileo excludes the properties of tastes,
odors, colors, and so on when describing the material world. He states that
these properties "reside only in the consciousness." These latter properties
would cease to exist without the living creature so the mathematically defined
properties are the most accurate in describing the material world. Galileo
seems to test his beliefs through experimentation and mathematical reasoning.
He sites examples in life that support his hypothesis. His argument is of a
scientific nature because he is making a hypothesis on a distinctive type of
concept. The conclusions that Galileo made relate directly to the work in
physics for which he is so well known. His conclusions put emphasis on shapes,
numbers, and motion which are all properties that lend themselves to support
through "reasoning back and forth between theory and experiment." I feel that
Galileo's argument is a valid one because it explains relations in nature and
the physical world through mathematical analysis. This allows him to define a
world outside of human existence that can be logically calculated and explained.
His view describes the world in which living creatures liv ...