Galileo lecture at UH Mānoa's Hamilton Bridge Gallery on Sept. 10

University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
Contact:
Teri Skillman, (808) 956-8688
Events & Communications Coordinator, UH Manoa Library
Diane Chang, (808) 956-0391
Director of Communications, Chancellor's Office
Posted: Sep 8, 2009

Galileo
Galileo
This year celebrates the 400th anniversary of the use of telescopes for viewing the universe.  On August 25, 1609, Galileo Galilei first demonstrated his telescope for Venetian lawmakers.  To commemorate the event and inaugurate UH Mānoa’s celebration of the International Year of Astronomy, Dr. Robert Joseph, Professor at the Institute for Astronomy, will present the first joint lecture for the 2009 Faculty and Astronomy Lecture Series on Thursday, September 10th at 3:30 pm in Hamilton Library’s Room 301.
 
Galileo made several discoveries with the telescope, which undercut the classical geocentric cosmology inherited from the Greeks. Because Aristotelian thought was the core of the university curriculum at that time, as well as part of the Scholastic synthesis with Christian theology, Galileo into some trouble with his academic colleagues as well the Church.  In this talk Joseph will describe some of Galileo's discoveries with his telescope, his scientific style, and his confrontation with the Roman Inquisition. 
 
The lecture is free and open to the public.  Refreshments will be served.  Join us for the official cutting of the cake and view the astronomy exhibit, “The Universe ~ Yours to Discover,” in the Hamilton Bridge Gallery.
 
This lecture is presented by the Vice Chancellor for Research and Graduate Education, Office of Research Relations, the Institute for Astronomy, the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa Library, and the Friends of Astronomy.