Greene County herald. (Leakesville, Miss.) 1898-current, 1909-10-08
a Rorg!ls.ls
IT : Progress
BY ALBERT PAYSON TEREUNE
.4>ILEO-The Man Who Would
TaHe Nothing for Granted.


most as child, and pallid from over
strdy-sat dreaming in the gray shad-
ows Of the Pisa Cathedral one day in
1888. And from his dreams arose
some of the greatest inventions and
discoveries ever accomplished. The
boy was Calico, eldest son of an inn
poverished Florentine nobleman. He
had spent his childhood devising
clever mechanical toys out of the
scantiest materials; had dabbled in
literature and painting as he grew
up; had sought to become a monk,
| and had been persuaded by his ia
ther to study medicine instead.
The young medical student, as he
sat in the cathedral, fell to observing
the great bronze chandelier that hung
by long rod from the roof Instead
of remaining motionless, the chande-
lier vibrated almost imperceptibly to
and fro. Calico wondered why Ten
thousand other Italians had seen that
swaying lamp and had taken it's mo-
ton for granted, But Calico had a
way of taking nothing for granted.
From idly watching the bronze lamps
| movements he began to note them
more carefully. He saw that they
were rhythmic, and that, whether the
swings were far or slight, all occupied
the same length of time. Again Gal
ileo wonder why He set himself to
study the cause. The results of his
studies were gradual and occupied
more than half a century But for
convenience they will here be grouped.
He knew nothing of mathematics,
bat in the working out of the vibrat-
ine-iamp problem, mathematics would
be necessary. Sc he threw over med
icine and became a mathematician.
The throb OF that cathedral chande-
lieT started him to bordering over a
theory propounded
he Swinging many wears before
/ mp md by a German named
aOS"'' COpernicus, name
ly that the sun stands still and that
the earth revolves about it, Also,
that the various stars and the moon
Fave similar system of rotation.
Night not this alleged motion of the
earth account for the vibrating of
the chandelier? Calico resolved to
know more of the matter He was not
content to take for granted the old
doctrine that the earth stood still and
the sun circled about it. But to so
further into the matter it was neces-
sary to study the heavens This he
had no competent means of doing.
So he went to work deyiSing such
means. Some years earlier a Middle
burg optician had ground bits Of glass
in such a way as to magnify objects
seen through them. The experiment
had not amounted to much But Gal
leo thought he saw a way of improv-
ing on it. He figured out that by
placing a convex lens and q concave
lens in certain position toward each
other anything seen through the two
would be enlarged. This is the prin-
ciple of the modern opera-glass. He
| experimental until he was able to
| magnify threefold. But this seeming
ly marvellous achievement did not sat
| isfy him. He continued grinding
! lenses at various angles of refraction
until he had perfected an instrument
that would magnify 80 fold In other
words, he had made a telescope.
Turning this on the heavenly bodies,
he at once revolutionized all astron-
omy
Europe went wild at the amazing
invention, but it stirred up countless
| rivals and enemies for the inventor.
Cclileo's amazing declaration that the
eCr-h moved was seized upon by these
| rivals, who carried it to the Inquisi-
| ton, with the claim that it tended to
deny certain passages of Scripture
and was therefore heretical. The IN
cuisition always eager to torture or
put to death any so-called hereto"
warned Calico to advance no more
such dangerous theories. In reply he
wrote book satirizing his opponents
| and even limiting that the Tnquisition
itself lacked the highest intelligence.
AS a result he promptly found him
self in trouble. He was again brought
to trial and given
The Penalty for the choice of tor
Prociaiming inc ture or of recant-
Truth. mo bic statement
thai the earth moves. Calico was
growing old and feeble, and courage
usually departs with strength. SO he
recanted on his knees, admitting that
| the earth was stationary But, as be
rose TO his feet, he shouted in a temp
est of wrath: Just the same it DOES
novel" He was imprisoned in the In
QUESTION dungeons for an indifnite
period, but through the influence of
powerful friends was later allowed
TO go free.
But, after his troubles with the In
| QUESTION. the inventors spirit and
| health gave way. His children died,
many of his friends deserted him. He
went hopelessly blind Yet even in
his blindness and ola age his mind
| harked back to the phenomenon of
| the swaying cathedral lamp that had
| melted his whole career. Working on
| the same theory of rhythm, he in
vented the pendulum and applied its
! use to clockmaking. This was his
| last achievement before, in 1912, he
died. He had been born on the day
of Michelangelo's death. And the day
of his death also witnessed the birth
| OF the great Sir Isaac Newton.
To the cathedral dreamer" we owe
almost wholly the telescope, micro
scope, thermometer and clock rendu-
| lur To him, above all. we owe our
| knowledge OF astronomy and OF the
eaI this motion.
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