Welcome dear students! Today we are going to learn about Galileo from Class 6 English_FL. Before we begin our journey into this fascinating chapter, let us complete the pre-reading task. I want you to think carefully about these questions and discuss them with your teacher. First, can you name some heavenly bodies? Next, what is astronomy? Can you name an Indian astronomer? What is a Planetarium? The source mentions there is one in Karnataka, so think about where it might be located. Finally, what instrument do astronomers use? Keep these questions in your mind as we explore the story, and you will discover the answers naturally within the text.
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Let us begin with the first paragraph. It is common knowledge today that the earth is a planet revolving round the sun. But there was a time not many centuries ago, when even learned men believed that the earth was fixed in space and the sun and all other heavenly bodies went round it. The man who first brought to light the facts about them was a great scientist and astronomer called Galileo Galilei. He was born in the year 1564 in the Italian town of Pisa. Now, let us move to the second paragraph. In the year 1608 a man called Hans Lippershey, a native of Holland, invented the telescope, the instrument with which astronomers watch the skies. The telescope makes distant objects appear to be near and magnified several times over. When Galileo heard about the invention, he became greatly interested in it, as the third paragraph tells us. He had at this time begun to study astronomy, and he saw that the invention would be a wonderful aid to the astronomer. He set to work on making a telescope for himself and very soon succeeded in making one which was better than the one Lippershey had made.
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Next, we will explore his discoveries. Galileo’s telescope was the first that was ever turned towards the stars. Looking through it, he saw a hundred times as many stars as he could see with his bare eyes. He looked at the milky way, the broad white band of light seen across the sky at night and found that it contained millions and millions of faint stars. He turned the telescope on the moon and what he saw filled him with amazement. On the moon’s surface, which seems so smooth, he saw high mountains and deep valleys like those on the earth. Greatly excited by these discoveries, Galileo carried his telescope to Venice and showed it to the learned men of that city. The people of Venice crowded at his house to have a look at the looking tube. They took it to the top of high buildings and looked through it at the ships out in the sea. They saw ships fifty miles away appearing to be only fifteen miles off! When the ruler of Venice was shown the instrument he was greatly pleased with the invention and appointed Galileo, professor for life at the University of Padua.
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The first telescope that Galileo made magnified objects three times their size. Later he made one that magnified them eight times. But he went on working on larger and larger ones, until he made a telescope which brought objects thirty times nearer. With the aid of this telescope he made important discoveries about the heavenly bodies. He found that the planet Jupiter had little moons that revolved round it. He found that the sun had spots on it and that the spots slowly moved across its face. He found from this that the sun, like the earth, spins round itself! Some fifty years earlier, a Polish astronomer called Copernicus had declared that the earth was a planet like the other planets, and that like them it revolved round the sun. Copernicus could not, however, prove this to the men of his day, and few people paid any great attention to his ideas.
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Galileo was the first great student of astronomy to realise that the ideas of Copernicus were true, and the first scholar to begin to teach them at the university. His new teaching caused great excitement among the learned men, because it meant that all their teaching was completely wrong. They began to oppose him and many of them became his enemies. Then he got into trouble with the Church. His ideas about the sun and the earth were different from what the Bible seemed to say, so the followers of the Church began to look upon him as a wicked and dangerous man. The Church had in those days a court called the Inquisition which tried and punished those that it considered unbelievers. Galileo was asked to appear before this court. He was questioned about his beliefs and was asked to kneel and declare that he no longer believed that the earth moved round the sun. He knew that if he refused to make this declaration, he might be put in prison and, perhaps tortured. As he feared torture, Galileo obeyed their order. There is a story that as he rose from his knees after his public declaration, he whispered to himself, But still it does move. The court ordered Galileo not to teach his wicked ideas anymore.
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But Galileo did not obey the Church’s orders for long. He continued his studies and, after a time, started teaching his ideas again. Besides, he wrote a book in which he criticized the old beliefs. When the book came out, the Inquisition once again ordered him to appear before it to be tried as a non-believer. After a long trial, he was sent to prison, but as he was now an old man, he was allowed to go home twenty-two days later. Now let us learn the important vocabulary from our glossary. Invent means to find out something new. Discover means to find out something which was already there but was not known until then. Astronomer means a scientist who studies heavenly bodies. Magnify means to make bigger. Faint means not clear. Amazement means great surprise. Excite means to feel pleased and interested. Looking tube means here, telescope. Realise means to understand. Kneel means to sit on one's knees. Whisper means to speak in a very low voice. Inquisition means the organization set up by the Roman Catholic Church to punish people who opposed its beliefs. Unbeliever means one who does not believe in god. Please remember this important historical note. In 1758, the Church lifted the ban on most works supporting Copernican theory, and by 1835, dropped its opposition to Heliocentrism altogether. In the 20th century, several Popes acknowledged the great work of Galileo, and in 1992, Pope John Paul the Second expressed regret about how the Galileo affair was handled.
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Let us now work on the comprehension exercises. First, we will correct the sentences that are not true. Sentence a says learned men have always believed that the earth moved round the sun. This is not true. The correct sentence is: Learned men did not always believe that the earth moved round the sun. In fact, they once believed the earth was fixed in space. Sentence b says the first telescope ever made was invented by Lippershey. This is true. Sentence c says Galileo thought a telescope would help him in his studies. This is true. Sentence d says Galileo watched the heavenly bodies in the clear night sky. This is not entirely accurate in context. The correct sentence is: Galileo watched the heavenly bodies through a telescope. Sentence e says the people of Venice also turned the looking tube towards the night sky. This is not true. The correct sentence is: The people of Venice turned the looking tube towards the sea to watch ships. Sentence f says Galileo went on improving his telescopes. This is true. Sentence g says Copernicus had already said what Galileo was saying. This is true. Sentence h says the Church set Galileo free because it finally agreed with his ideas. This is not true. The correct sentence is: The Church allowed Galileo to go home twenty-two days later because he was an old man, not because it agreed with his ideas.
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Now let us discuss the second set of questions. I will provide clear answers for you to write down. Question a asks how our knowledge about the earth is different from the knowledge of people four hundred years ago. Today we know the earth is a planet revolving round the sun. Four hundred years ago, even learned men believed the earth was fixed in space and everything revolved around it. Question b asks who corrected people’s thinking about our earth in the seventeenth century. Galileo Galilei corrected their thinking with his telescope observations and teachings. Question c asks about Lippershey’s contribution to astronomy. Hans Lippershey invented the telescope in 1608, which became the essential instrument for watching the skies. Question d asks what the Milky Way is. The Milky Way is the broad white band of light seen across the sky at night, which contains millions and millions of faint stars. Question e asks in what ways the moon is similar to the earth. The moon is similar to the earth because it has high mountains and deep valleys on its surface. Question f asks why Galileo was appointed professor at the University of Padua. He was appointed because the ruler of Venice was greatly pleased with his telescope invention. Question g asks what two important discoveries Galileo made with his improved telescope. He discovered that Jupiter had little moons revolving round it, and that the sun had spots that moved, proving the sun spins round itself. Question h asks who made similar discoveries in the sixteenth century. The Polish astronomer Copernicus declared similar ideas fifty years earlier. Question i asks what trouble Galileo brought upon himself. He got into trouble with the Church and the Inquisition because his ideas contradicted what the Bible seemed to say, leading to him being questioned, forced to recant, and imprisoned. Question j asks about the ironic story of Galileo facing the Inquisition. The irony is that after being forced to kneel and declare he no longer believed the earth moved, he whispered to himself, But still it does move, showing he knew the truth despite his forced public denial.
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Let us move to the grammar section. We will rewrite sentences. First, rewrite the first sentence of paragraph two in three sentences. The original is: In the year 1608 a man called Hans Lippershey, a native of Holland, invented the telescope, the instrument with which astronomers watch the skies. a. A man called Hans Lippershey invented the telescope. b. He was a native of Holland in the year 1608. c. The telescope is the instrument with which astronomers watch the skies. Next, rewrite this sentence in two sentences, with seven words each: Galileo's was the first telescope that was ever turned towards the stars. a. Galileo turned his telescope to the stars. b. No one had done this before him. Now, let us re-order the jumbled words to make a sentence. The words are: earth, but, include, trip, on, expensive, does, free, the, living, is, it, a, around, sun, and clues for the last two: every, year. A well-arranged sentence using these words is: Living on the earth does include an expensive trip, but it is a free trip around the sun every year. Let us answer the sub-questions. a. The punctuated sentence is: Living on the earth does include an expensive trip, but it is a free trip around the sun every year. b. I will read it clearly for you to practice with your partner. c. The word it refers to the earth. d. The word you should emphasize is free. Read the sentence again stressing this word: Living on the earth does include an expensive trip, but it is a FREE trip around the sun every year. e. The joke is that we are constantly moving around the sun without paying for travel. You have made one free trip every year since you were born!
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Let us practice pronunciation. When you say the following words, you stress the third syllable from the end. Listen carefully: as-tron-o-my, as-trol-o-gy, bi-ol-o-gy, ge-ol-o-gy, phi-los-o-phy, de-moc-ra-cy, phys-i-o-ther-a-py, dem-o-cra-cy, ar-is-toc-ra-cy, plu-to-cra-cy. Remember, do not stress the consonant sound in the syllable. Stress the vowel sound. Practise saying these words aloud. Next, we will learn word formation with the suffixes er and ist. First, say the words for different kinds of scientists. Stress the third syllable from the end. Here is the example: astronomy becomes astronomer. Now, say the words for the persons who believe in the social, political and scientific systems. Stress the first syllable. Here is the example: democracy becomes democrat. Let us apply this. Biology becomes biologist. Geology becomes geologist. Philosophy becomes philosopher. Democracy becomes democrat. Aristocracy becomes aristocrat. Plutocracy becomes plutocrat. Practice these carefully.
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Finally, let us complete the writing task. You will write a paragraph on The Telescope using the ideas in the text. First, work with your partner and fill in the blanks. I will provide the complete filled paragraph for you. We praise and honour scientists because their inventions are useful to us. But sometimes a scientist may find a truth about Nature that may not be liked by some people. This is because of our ignorance, or prejudice. In olden days, scientists even got into trouble for finding out truths. Galileo was an Italian astronomer. He got into trouble for telling some truths about the heavenly bodies. Now, using these ideas, you can write your own paragraph about the telescope. Start by mentioning its invention by Hans Lippershey in 1608. Explain how it magnifies distant objects. Describe how Galileo improved it and used it to discover mountains on the moon, moons of Jupiter, and the rotation of the sun. Conclude by stating how the telescope changed our understanding of the universe. Thank you for listening! Keep revising and practicing. Goodbye! [CHAPTER_COMPLETE]