Natural Science - Year I

Unit 28: Galileo

Preparation

• History Web Lecture: The history web readings introduce the difficult tangled subject of Galileo's relationship with the Roman Catholic Church, of which he always considered himself a loyal son. Students are directed to two sources: the Catholic online encyclopedia and the University of Tennessee sites on Galileo and his observations of the sun, moon, Jupiter, and Venus. Be sure to encourage students to look for differences in how the material about Galileo is presented.

• Science Web Lecture and Homework: Student-led planetary reports.

• Discussion: We will continue to review the planetary reports and discuss the general characteristics of planets. Some of our discussion will focus on the nature of historical investigations of cases such as that of Galileo and the Church, and how our own agendas can drive our assumptions about an historical event and shape our views of how human institutions can shape the course of scientific investigation.

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