The evolution of a mathematical instrument – I

Before the publication of Sidereus Nuncius in 1610 launched him into European scientific superstardom, Galileo Galilei (1564–1591) was a comparatively unknown professor for mathematics at the University of Padua. He had a reputation in Northern Italy as a highly intelligent, somewhat arrogant, argumentative scholar with a decided taste for the good life. Professor for mathematics was at the very bottom of the academic status pyramid and comparatively poorly paid. Galileo had always lived beyond his means and money was tight. This was exacerbated in the first decade of the seventeenth century, when he had his mistress, Marina Gamba, and three children–Virginia (b.1600), Livia (b.1601), Vincenzo (b. 1606)–to support. However, his financial problems didn’t start with the founding of his family. Galileo Galilei, portrait by Francesco Porcia Source: Wikimedia Commons When Galileo first took up his position in Padua in 1592, he was already under financial duress. Following the death of his…