Galileo Reconsidered
presentation by
John Dillon
Former Curator of the Randall Museum & Past SFAA President
Join John Dillon for a presentation – Galileo Reconsidered. Three years ago the world celebrated the 400th anniversary of Galileo’s telescope and the revolutionary observations he made with it. The legend was retold of how his discoveries challenged the ancient authority of Aristotle, the Universities, and especially the Church – inevitably leading to his infamous trial and personal disgrace but defiantly opening the way for “modern” science. The popular account often ignores recent work by historians of science that reveals a subtler, more complex, and more interesting story. Dillon will weave the most recent research into a review of the intricate relationship between Galileo, telescopes, the Church and the emergence of “modern” science.
John Dillon retired as Curator of the Randall Museum and is a Past President of the SF Amateur Astronomers. He did his graduate work in Zoology and Philosophy as a NASA Fellow at Duke University and studied History of Science at Cambridge University. For many years he has been teaching extension classes in the History and Philosophy of Science at UC Berkeley, SF State, and StanfordUniversity.
