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.
Portrait of Galileo Galilei by Justus Sustermans p...
International Year of Astronomy commemorative coin...
Isaac NewtonThe 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 live and not contrasts it to the world within living
creatures. The problem with Galileo's view is that it pioneers a scientific outlook but
never actually fulfills it.
Newton believes the world is ultimately made up of hard particles that can retain
different properties. The...