What to learn about Science...

Javier Robles ES GL 08/12/10

History of Science Dr. Lansang

What to learn about Science

Personally, I believe that science can be very interesting if you know what to take out of it. Galileo lived an interesting life and while he died not knowing that his work would eventually be considered true he was truly a great scientist and a devout Christian. I was not surprised to find out that the Roman Catholic Church was centered on the idea that the earth was placed in the middle of the universe. What I was astonished about was that the Ptolemaic system was wrong and in effect for over a thousand years. Galileo knew this and tried his best to disprove Ptolemy and the church without being considered a heretic or disrespectful. Interestingly enough, Galileo was still called a heretic and was given a very difficult ultimatum; he had to either abandon his ideas publicly or be thrown out of the church, one thing Galileo could not bear being a devout Christian and close friends with the Pope. Galileo ended up renouncing his ideas publicly and died before the church could adopt his system. This tells you a little about Galileo and loyalty.

That same year Galileo died Sir Isaac Newton was born. Newton was a very bright man and is considered one of the best scientists of humanity. No one thing I did not know or suspect was that he was lazy, stupid, and went in to Cambridge to earn a law degree. Towards the end of his undergraduate years at college, his ideas started to form many of which about Mathematics, calculus to be more specific, and Physics. One interesting fact about Newton was that although very brilliant he was insecure and afraid of criticisms, which lead to two nervous breakdowns. In the course of his life, he published many works on physics and even theology. He established three major principles in Physics and contributed to the field of Calculus.

Engines are very important to society as well as me personally. One thing I did not know about steam engines was that the Greek engineer Hero originally built it as a toy. Called the aeliopile it was a sphere with tubes attached to it that would rotate when steam went through. It was connected to a boiler that provided the steam. One thing I found interesting was that for over 1,500 years, no one did anything that had to do with steam nor did they investigate or experiment.