Two fingers and a tooth recently discovered from the body of the great astronomer Galileo Galilei.
Galileo Galilei (born 1564) was a distinguished Italian astronomer, physicist, mathematician, and philosopher. He was tried by the Vatican at the Inquisition for stating that the Earth revolves around the Sun. At that time, the Bible taught that the Earth was the center of the universe and that all celestial bodies, including the Sun, revolved around it. In court, Galileo was forced to swear that he would renounce heliocentrism. However, as soon as he left the courtroom, the astronomer boldly declared, “Nevertheless, the Earth still moves!“
Galileo passed away in 1642. In 1737, his remains were moved to the Santa Croce church in Florence, Italy.
Paolo Galluzzi, director of the Museum of the History of Science in Italy, stated that admirers of Galileo had attempted to steal parts of his body. They managed to obtain three fingers, a vertebra, and a tooth. One finger was found shortly after, and it is now housed in the Museum of the History of Science. The vertebra is preserved at the University of Padua, where Galileo taught for many years.
However, the tooth and two fingers of the illustrious astronomer—specifically the thumb and middle finger of his right hand—have yet to be found. Galluzzi mentioned that it was recently discovered that an Italian marquis had kept them. He placed the bones in a wooden box, and they were passed down from generation to generation.
Portrait of the astronomer Galileo Galilei. (Photo: Livescience).
“After realizing these were Galileo’s bones, the descendants of the marquis decided to auction them. But by 1905, no one had any information about those bones anymore. Therefore, scholars believed they were lost forever,” Galluzzi told Telegraph.
But then, suddenly, the box containing the bones appeared at an auction, and a collector purchased it. This individual contacted Galluzzi and several cultural officials in Florence to verify whether these bones belonged to Galileo.
With his immense contributions to the scientific revolution, Galileo is posthumously regarded as the “father of modern astronomy“, “father of modern physics“, and “forerunner of modern science“. In the early 1990s, Pope John Paul II restored Galileo’s honor and declared that the Vatican had made a mistake.
Telegraph reported that the Museum of the History of Science will display the two fingers and the tooth of Galileo in the spring of next year.
