A mid-19th century sketch of the Leaning Tower of Pisa by an unknown artist.
Salviati, who championed the Copernican model, represented Galileos own perspective.
Sagredo, an open-minded nobleman, acted as the neutral party, ultimately being persuaded by Salviatis arguments.
Galileo illustrated this thought experiment through a logical dialogue between these three characters:
Salviati.
Do you not agree with me in this opinion?
You are unquestionably right.
Galileos alleged Leaning Tower of Pisa experiment.
Yet, as Galileo reasoned, no such extreme difference in falling times is observed in practice.
Galileos intellectual brilliance allowed him to prove his point through logic rather than physical demonstration.
However, such an experimentdidtake place, though not in Pisa as the famous myth suggests.
From a height of 30 feet, they dropped the balls onto a wooden platform below.
Nieuwe Kerk in Delft, where the experiment took place.
It would take another century before Isaac Newton would publish his revolutionary theories of universal gravitation.
Astronaut David Scott, standing on the Moon, dropped a feather and a hammer simultaneously.
This dramatic demonstration of Galileo’s principle was captured on video and can be seen below.
