been the last scholastic. When he died, in 1631, there was no one to take his place. The times had changed. We are accustomed to attribute all the merit of the change to Galileo, whose career so brilliantly represents what was best in the new scientific spirit. It is impossible to declare what the movement of the world would have been had Galileo never lived. It would, perhaps, have been much the same. A company of less brilliant men would, perhaps, have done Galileo's work, taking a century for the task. Scholasticism was already moribund; the telescope was invented; the time was ripe; Kepler had already discovered his great laws of planetary motion; who can doubt that scholars would have arisen to fill the opening opportunity?
Gradually the fame of Galileo rose to a great height. He became the best known man in Europe. His lecture rooms were crowded. At Easter, 1610, he showed the Medicean stars to Cosmo II in Florence, and in May he writes a letter describing the work that he has projected—treatises on the constitution of the world, on mechanical motion, on sound, color, vision, tides, fortification, tactics, artillery, sieges, surveying, etc.[1] This letter soon brought an offer from the Grand Duke to appoint Galileo first philosopher and mathematician at the University of Pisa at a salary of 1,000 scudi. He is not to be obliged to reside at Pisa—and in fact his duties were usually performed by substitutes.
In July, 1610, Galileo left the service of Venice for that of Florence. It was a sad exchange for him. Venice was the only state in Italy that dared to stand up against the power of Rome. There were weighty reasons of state why the Duke of Florence could not do so. The Jesuits had been banished from the soil of Venice (1606) ‘for ever.’ They were all powerful in Rome and in Florence. It is evident from letters of this time that Galileo's desertion of Padua produced an unfavorable impression of self-seeking even among his friends.
Galileo's visit to Rome in March, 1611, was a veritable triumph for him. His expenses were paid by the court, he was lodged with the Tuscan ambassador, and received with the greatest honor by the Pope (Paul V.) and the cardinals, including Cardinal Barberini, the future Pope Urban VIII. To them he showed his discoveries. They were convinced and interested. At the request of Cardinal Robert Bellarmine, four learned men of the Roman College (Clavius among them) reported on what they had seen through the telescope and fully confirmed his observations. This report is of great importance, since it was, in effect, a sanction by the Church itself. Galileo was received a member of the Accademia dei Lincei, and its president, Prince Cesi, became his lifelong friend. The Cardinal del Monte writes to the
- ↑ Compare the letter of Leonardo da Vinci to the Duke of Milan reciting the labors that he was ready to undertake in his service.
