Galileo: Learn something

Olivia Cao

Nov. 15. 2014

Galileo: Not only science

People always say Galileo is a great person. When we talk about Galileo, we can think of many achievements of him, such as improvements to the telescope and consequent astronomical observations and support for Copernicanism. I watched the show named Galileo this Saturday. It is a drama which is wrote by Bertolt Brecht. Bertolt Brecht is a famous German playwright. Life of Galileo is one of his notable works. In this play, we can not only see Galileo’s achievements, but also his personalities and some social problems. This is an amazing play, I learned many things from it. I will recommend to my friends. 

Five hundred years before, if someone wanted to prove the earth rotates around the sun, he must consider the consequences. In some ways, Galileo was a brave man, even if he finally yielded. Some people think Galileo should stand up for science and truth. I ever read a article, the author said Galileo’s silence and weakness led the civilization of Europe to stop developing for fifty years. I agree with that, his experience and compromise scared other scientists at that time. People were afraid of telling the truth at that time. Thus, many theories could not be discuss in public. Even Galileo’s close students civilized him and hated him. From this perspective, Galileo should sacrifice for science. Is it wrong that he chose a shameful life. However, Galileo was human. In some ways, human is kind of selfish, living is human’s instinct. We can not ask everybody to sacrifice for science. It is a normal thing that Galileo chose to live with his daughter and gave up the science. 

However, there are many scientists are true to the truth, like Galileo’s student, Andrea. They are not afraid of death, they are real scientists. At last, when Andrea came by his teacher, they argued. Andrea was so true to justice that he could not accept the truth that his favorite teacher gave up the truth. Galileo understood Andrea’s thoughts, so he gave him his research results. Then the truth was known. In this play I liked Andrea most, he represented the truth and justice. Also, I like Galileo’s daughter, because she was the only one who stayed with Galileo and supported Galileo all the time. She thought about his father all the time, she loved Galileo. In my opinion, this is one of the biggest reasons why he gave up the truth, because he loved his daughter. 

Actually, I can not understand the whole play, so I did so much research after the play. I was confused the character which was acted by Luke. I did not understand who he was. Then, I asked Luke who he was. He said he was the worst guy in this play, he donated money to the church and controlled them. I was still confused, so I searched him by Internet, I got nothing. I am still confused about this character. 

I like this play and I will recommend this show to others, even if it is a little difficult to understand. I like the story, as the introduction of this play said “ Learn from the show”. I did learn something from this show, and I hope my friends learn something too. Also, I like the acting. Actors are so professional that I wondered was I watching some famous actors’ performance. Anyway, I will recommend this show to others.  

In conclusion, I am so glad I watched this show. This is a good show. If I have a chance to watch again, I must go. I recommend this to all my friends. I did not only enjoy this show, but also learn from this show. 

Citation: 

"Galileo Galilei." Wikipedia. Wikipedia, n.d. Web. 16 Nov. 2014.