Galileo Galilei (1564- 1642), is generally recognized as the father of the modern scientific method. A humanist as well as a scientist, he composed some of his most important books in Italian instead of Latin, to make them more accessible to the general public, creating Italian modern scientific prose. His astronomical treatise on the Copernican system, the Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems, was published in 1632, with formal authorization from the Inquisition and papal permission but was banned one year later, and Galileo was sentenced to house arrest without permission to publish.
His last book, the Discourses and Mathematical Demonstrations Relating to Two New Sciences, was published in 1638 in the Netherlands, out of reach for the Inquisition. The two sciences mentioned in the title are the strength of materials and the motion of objects.
The image here illustrates Galileo’s discussion of the strength and resistance against breaking of given materials. AB represents a cylinder, made of wood or other solid coherent material, A its upper end where it is fastened, so that the cylinder hangs vertically, and C the weight attached to the lower end B. By increasing the weight C one can determine the tenacity and coherence between the parts of the solid.
Sources- http://portalegalileo.museogalileo.it/igjr.asp?c=36308
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two_New_Sciences
- Ludovico Geymonat (ed.) Storia del pensiero filosofico e scientifico. Milano, Garzanti, 1970-1972, vol. 2 pp. 152-175.