Significance of Galileo

Perhaps the most significant text from the Galileo Dialogue seems to appear at the beginning when Salviati reveals that “in the Copernican position, the senses much deceive us when they visually show us, at close range and in a perfectly clear medium, the straight perpendicular descent of very heavy bodies. Despite all, according to Copernicus, vision deceives us in even so plain a matter and the motion is not straight at all, but mixed straight-and-circular”. This passage exposes the two most essential points of the reading; these points being deceptive nature of one’s senses and the straight and circular motion of material. The deception of one’s senses seems to be the basis for the refuting arguments presented in the reading. In the refuting many of Ptolemaic ideas, one must first assume that what is perceived is not reality. When Salviati compares seemingly stationary objects to objects falling on a boat, it becomes clear to see that one’s previous perception of only vertical motion is incorrect. However, the existence of horizontal velocities equal to that of the earth’s velocity are not perceived by ones senses revealing the senses’ deceptive nature. Our sense of touch is also corrupted by our own perceptions. Simplicio displays this corruption when advocating for the Copernican doctrine by showing the lack of sensation we have for the intense velocity at which the earth is rotating. Since we are in a constant motion, our bodies cannot truly perceive every aspect of motion which deceives us but gives Galileo a foothold. It seems that only through reason, which Galileo produces, can we confirm reality. The second important characteristic of this passage is the proclamation of motion on earth consisting of both straight and a circular motion. This is the main point Salviati is trying to reach. Through the several examples Salviati presented, he attempted to convince Sagredo that objects do not just move in a vertical motion. In another argument Salviati