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Galileo's Balls: Did He Really Drop Them?
Galileo's Balls: Did He Really Drop Them?
Galileo's Balls: Did He Really Drop Them?
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Galileo's Balls: Did He Really Drop Them?

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According to Aristotle, the speed with which an objects falls is proportional to its weight, i.e., he said heavy objects fall faster than light ones. The Italian Renaissance philosopher Galileo Galilei is widely believed to have tested this claim when he was a professor in Pisa by dropping different weight balls from its Leaning Tower. However, many historians doubt this because there is no supporting historical evidence. These skeptics further object that though Galileo reported the results of such an experiment, he did not say how he knew this. And since the two outcomes Galileo reported are both physically impossible, these historians conclude Galileo's account could only be a speculation. The present paper reports a demonstration of a dropping test done in the way which someone in Galileo's time likely would have conducted such an experiment. Both questionable results were observed. They are not physically impossible because they are not physics phenomena. One is neurological and the other a perceptual illusion. Thus it appears likely that Galileo either actually did a similar test or knew of the results which others found from such an experiment.

LanguageEnglish
Release dateNov 20, 2015
ISBN9781311879219
Galileo's Balls: Did He Really Drop Them?

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    Galileo's Balls - Donald R. Miklich

    Galileo's Balls:

    Did He Really Drop Them?

    Donald R. Miklich, Ph.D.

    Published at Smashwords by Donald R. Miklich

    Copyright 2014 Donald R. Miklich

    Pity the poor history professor, for much of what is considered common historical knowledge is actually folklore. I well know this because through high school, college and graduate school I accepted a widely held story as fact which turned out, when I finally bothered to investigate, to be mere legend. I long believed the Italian Renaissance natural philosopher Galileo Galilei dropped different weight balls from the Leaning Tower of Pisa in order to test Aristotle's claim that the heavier would fall faster. However, as I discovered, the historical evidence does not support this notion. It's a legend which seems to have grown from

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