• Question: Einstein or Galileo? why?

    Asked by JaykeFpx to Francesca, Laura, Matthew, Andrew, Rebecca on 8 Nov 2014.
    • Photo: Laura Schofield

      Laura Schofield answered on 8 Nov 2014:

      Ooh this is a tricky one. I’d have to say Einstein and not just because he’s my hair idol!
      Galileo was an incredible mind, and way before his time (he was condemned by the Catholic Church at the time for making grand statements that disagreed with the Church’s teachings).
      But Einstein was (in my opinion) equally, if not more, of a genius. He also said some pretty awesome things about people (like “everyone is a genius but if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it’ll spend it’s whole life thinking it is stupid”). He was and still is an inspiration to me to be a better scientist and also a better person.

    • Photo: Francesca Palombo

      Francesca Palombo answered on 8 Nov 2014:

      Galileo, he was Italian! Just joking – I find him inspirational and truly revolutionary

    • Photo: Matthew Camilleri

      Matthew Camilleri answered on 9 Nov 2014:

      This is a difficult question to answer in the realms of science, as they lived centuries apart and therefore did not have the same resources.

      Galileo can be said to be the father of astrology for his improvements of the telescope, and although he is mostly known for his theory that the earth revolved around the sun, this was a known fact for the greeks a few millennia before.

      On the other hand Einstein came up with some pretty neat work in the realm of physics, which we still use today, such as theory of conservation of energy, relativity and quantum theory.

      Without disregarding the achievements made by Galileo, I find it hard to see the genius that he was due to the technological advancements found in our age and time, whereas it might still be difficult for most scientists to actually come up with Einstein’s theories if they had to build them from scratch.

      With that in mind I’d have to go for Einstein.

    • Photo: Andrew McKinley

      Andrew McKinley answered on 10 Nov 2014:

      I couldn’t possibly say one way or the other I’m afraid! They were each so far apart.

      That said, the work of Galileo on Relativity started Einstein down the path which led to one of the most successful theories of physics – that of General Relativity. (search for Galileo’s Dictum). The essence of this is: you are standing alone in a room, and you drop your wallet. Does it land at your feet? Of course it does.
      What if you are standing still in the room, but this time on a railway carriage moving at a constant speed; but you can’t see out the windows. Now you drop your wallet? Does it still land at your feet?
      If you do not know the train is moving (if it is moving at a constant speed, you will not feel it moving), will this affect the result? The answer is ‘no’, and your wallet will still land at your feet.

      This is the essence of Galileo’s relativity, and led to Einstein’s shocking revelation that permits time-travel!

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