Number of words – 144

Galileo brought physics into mathematics. Olympiad astronomy, by modelling his way of studying motion and the methods in astronomy. In 1612, he wrote a memorandum on how to investigate nature, stating the procedure in four parts:

1. Start with the phenomenon based on the sense observations we see everyday.

2. Then make a hypothesis, suppositions about the underlying structure of the things.

3. Use geometry to demonstrate how various events can follow from the hypothesis.

4. Finally use the geometrical model to calculate particular values for the phenomena.

Although Galileo didn’t say so, his own methods in following years used an additional step.

5. Compare calculations from the model with measurements of the phenomena. If it compares poorly, revise your hypothesis (step 2) and then repeat steps 3 and 4.

Excerpted from ‘Children of Promotheus: A history of Science and Technology’ by James McLachlan