Galileo’s Telescope and some history – “The Instrument that Changed the World”— edhiker
Had a quick conversation with Ellen via Twitter this morning about telescopes, since she’s shopping for one with her 7-year-old. Leaving aside all the tangents I want to travel right now, like about how I cried the first time I saw the Moon in a telescope, it occurs to me that Galileo’s telescope was one of the most disruptive technologies ever created. (And we think the Internet changed things!)
He created this thing — the telescope — and then observed, carefully, the spots on the sun. And then he knew from what he saw that the Earth indeed moves — and is not flat.
That caused such a ruckus that he was forced to recant it lest the Heavens fall straight out of the sky. He did recant, and yet was still deemed so dangerous that he remained under house-arrest till his death. (And it took us centuries to pardon him, by the way.)
And so we created this thing — the printing press (thanks @chadmaglaque), the Internet, mobile devices — and we observe. And we let people know. Your notions of the news, of human rights, of relationships and of family and of marriage are changing. And it causes a ruckus. And one day, maybe centuries from now, truth wins.
Moya Watson 