He
argued against a literal interpretation of the Bible. His
observation that certain sun spots were on certain locations of
the sun but changed over time suggested that the sun might be
rotating. He observed that when air was withdrawn by a suction
pump from the top of a long glass tube whose lower open end was
submerged in a pan of water, the water rose to a height of 34 feet
and no higher. He had demonstrated that there was such a thing as
a vacuum, which was above the level of the water. About 1600,
Galileo invented the first thermometer by heating air at the top
of a tube whose open end was in a bowl of water; as the top end
cooled, the air contracted and water rose partway up the tube; the
column of water rose or fell with every change of temperature.
Galileo invented the compound refracting microscope, which used
more than one lens, about 1612.
Galileo's book on the arguments for and against the Copernican
theory was unexpectedly popular when published in 1632. The
general public was so persuaded by the arguments that the earth
revolved around the sun that Papal authority felt threatened. So
Galileo was tried and convicted of heresy and sentenced to prison
as an example to others who might question church doctrine, even
though the seventy year old Galileo recanted and some of the
inquisition judges who convicted him believed the Copernican
theory and their decision did not assert the contrary.
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