Still pointing to the stars
QUESTION Why was Galileo’s middle finger preserved and put on display at the Museo Galileo in Florence?
The 17th-century astronomer, physicist and philosopher Galileo Galilei is still hugely influential, but, in his lifetime, he was hounded.
In 1614, he was accused of heresy for his support of the Copernican theory that the Sun is at the centre of the solar system and, in 1616, he was prohibited by the Church from teaching or advocating such theories.
Galileo defended his views in 1632 in the Dialogue Concerning The Two Chief World Systems. he was tried by the Council of the Inquisition, found ‘vehemently suspect of heresy’ and forced to recant. he spent the rest of his life under house arrest.
After Galileo’s death in 1642, fearful that the Inquisition might deny him burial in consecrated ground, his friends and family hurriedly interred his body in a small room adjoining the chapel of Saints Cosmas and Damian in the basilica of Santa Croce in Florence.
his patron, Ferdinand II, later raised money for a tomb to be built in his honour. But Pope Urban VIII refused to allow it and so Galileo’s body remained in the unmarked grave for many years.
When Galileo’s pupil, Vincenzo Viviani, died in 1703, he left money in his will for a tomb in which he would be buried with Galileo. Additional funds were contributed by the architect Giovanni Nelli.
In 1737, 95 years after Galileo’s death, the Vatican finally allowed his remains to be disinterred and reburied in a monumental tomb designed by Giulio Foggini.
During the reburial, Galileo’s admirers, including Florentine antiquarian Anton Francesco Gori, removed three of his fingers, a tooth and a vertebra to keep as relics.
The vertebra went to the University of Padua, where Galileo had taught for many years. The remaining body parts were kept by private collectors, until their sudden disappearance in 1905.
The fingers and tooth — stored in an 18th-century blown-glass vase, inside a wooden case with a bust of Galileo fixed on top — were put up for auction in 2009 by an unknown seller. They were bought by Florence art collector Alberto Bruschi, who donated them to the Museo Galileo, where visitors can see other artefacts and scientific instruments used by Galileo.
It was not until 1992 that the Catholic Church announced that errors had been made by the Council of the Inquisition in Galileo’s trial. On November 1, 1992, the New York Times reported: ‘It’s official: The earth revolves around the Sun, even for the Vatican.’
Simon Gallagher, Telford, Shrops.
QUESTION What distance was covered in the first Tour de France? How do the times compare with today’s race?
The first Tour de France in 1903 was won by Frenchman Maurice Garin. It took 19 days, and only 21 of the 60 cyclists who started the race completed all six stages. These varied in distance from around 170 to 290 miles, and the total distance was 1,509 miles.
This year’s Tour de France, won by Colombian egan Bernal, took 23 days, which included two rest days. There were 22 teams, each with eight riders, and the total distance was 2,200 miles. As always, it started and finished in Paris.
Bill Dove, Sutton-in-Ashfield, Notts.
QUESTION If space is a vacuum, why doesn’t it suck in the air from the Earth’s atmosphere?
IN A word: gravity. According to einstein, gravity is masses distorting the geometry of the four-dimensional space-time continuum, which creates a mutual attraction between masses. The greater the mass, the stronger the attraction — so tiny masses with little inertia tend to gravitate to massive objects, while massive objects gravitate to each other.
hence the mutual attraction that keeps us on the earth does the same to the atoms and molecules of atmospheric gas and dust particles.
The gravity of massive astronomical objects, such as planets, stars and galaxies, pulling in gas and dust, is why the space in between them is a partial vacuum.
Ian H. Machell, Trowbridge, Wilts.
QUESTION Is it true the great 18th-century racehorse Eclipse almost never existed because his grandsire should have been put down?
The earlier reply told the disputed story that eclipse’s grandsire, Squirt, narrowly avoided being put down.
It also mentioned that the Darley Arabian’s Y-chromosome is present in more than 95 per cent of male english thoroughbred horses today. Apparently, this horse, discovered in Aleppo, Syria, by the British Consul, Thomas Darley, was selected on his good looks alone.
The Darley Arabian was small, at around 15 hands. he may never have raced and, being at a private stud, he probably didn’t cover many mares. But he did sire the unbeaten Flying Childers and his full brother Bartlett’s Childers, who, though unraced, became a prolific stallion — sire of Squirt, grandsire of Marske and great-grandsire of eclipse.
Bartlett’s Childers could be regarded as the father of the eclipse line.
On the subject of founder (or laminitis, as it is technically known), the tale of Squirt having narrowly avoided the bullet is almost certainly exaggerated.
he was prone to founder throughout his career, so was retired early to stud.
It’s most unlikely that a horse so closely related to the celebrated Flying Childers would have been put down, even for an admittedly painful condition.
Chris Hillidge, Fellow of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, Dymock, Glos.
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