The Galileo Thermometer Was Not Invented By Galileo 57
New submitter GregLaden writes "The object known as the Galileo Thermometer is a vertical glass tube filled with a liquid in which are suspended a number of weighted glass balls. As the temperature of the liquid changes, so does the density. Since each glass ball is set to float at equilibrium in a sightly different density of the liquid, as the temperature increases, each glass ball sinks to the bottom. It turns out that this thermometer was actually invented by a team of instrument inventors that formed a scientific society who had the impressive motto 'Probando e Reprobando,' which in English means 'testing and retesting.' The Accademia del Cimento operated under the leadership of the Grand Duke Ferdinand II from 1657-1667 in Florence, Italy. According to Peter Loyson, who has written a corrective article for the Journal of Chemical Education, Galileo did invent a temperature measuring device called a thermoscope."
You are doing it wrong (Score:1)
Doing it right:
Subject: Binternet Rands sues God Almighty!!
Binternet Rands sues God Almighty [wikipedia.org] for copyright, design-patent, and trademark infringement. Rumored to be acting on behalf of a mysterious organization called Accademia del Cimento, Binternet Rands is suing God Almighty for infringing on the "distinctive design" of the device commonly known as the "Galilean Thermometer."
Through its attorney [wikipedia.org], Binternet Rands claims that the external reproductive organ of the human male is not looks very similar in shape to the "Galilean Thermometer" but both devices are commonly used to measure temperatures.
Legal experts widely dismiss the copyright and design patent claims on a number of fronts, not the least of which is that it is widely assumed that male anatomy was invented first. Asked for comment, Binternet Rands's attorney mumbled something that sounded like "pics or it didn't happen." In addition, any copyrights or patents issued during that time period are almost certainly expired.
The trademark claim cannot be so easily dismissed.
Noted philosopher and writer H. Benderson [amazon.com] notes that while the "Galilean Thermometer" is commonly used to measure air temperatures and the male reproductive organ is commonly used to measure the temperatures of other things, notably parts of the female anatomy and the temperature of showers. As such, Binternet Rands's claims that confusion is very likely cannot be dismissed out of hand. In addition, the "Galilean Thermometer" is sometimes used in a manner similar to the male reproductive organ as a means of providing erotic pleasure, despite wide-spread recommendations not to use breakable glass for such purposes.
There, that's doing it right.
Evangelista Torricelli (Score:5, Informative)
My understanding was that Torricelli who was a pupil of Galileo actually built the "Galileo Thermometer". It would seem to be appropriately named as even today when a grad student makes a discovery or somebody dreams up some patentable something, the credit usually goes to the professor or company the person is working under.
Or maybe I'm wrong.
Re:Evangelista Torricelli (Score:5, Informative)
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Seriously, I never thought the that Galileo mad this. I have read ome stuff, and never came across this claim. I don't know if he made anything. My understanding is that he came up with some idea, had a very skilled craftsperson model it and over time created a product or apparatus. The military compass is one example, though in that case he may not have the first to create it.
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"And the newton cradle was not invented my newton. "
Of course not - he was only a baby at the time.
That reminds me of something I heard the other day about the political conventions. "Every politician claims to have been born in the log cabin they built with their own hands."
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They really are unstoppable
Let's just say Galileo (Score:5, Funny)
Don't these scientists understand that there's no way we can remember all of these historical inventors? If we can just say the majority of things in the world were invented by Leonardo da Vinci, Galileo, Benjamin Franklin, and Nikola Tesla it would make all our lives so much easier. k thx bye
Re:Let's just say Galileo (Score:4, Informative)
Let's just say Tesla (Score:4, Funny)
But, as we all know, Edison and his employees did not invent anything – they stole everything from Tesla – which has already been mentioned. For proof see:
http://www.thinkgeek.com/product/ea08/?srp=1 [thinkgeek.com]
And don’t forget the ancient Egyptians & Chinese. Sure, they got most of the tech from Atlantis, but still.
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Everyone knows the Egyptians traveled to the future and got their stuff from Tesla. All the talk about Atlantis is just what they _want_ you to believe. DUH!
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Given the he organized and paid for the research that lead to the patents, I have no problems with him getting the credit.
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Don't these scientists understand that there's no way we can remember
That's also why I am with the creationists: six days, done
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The Galileo thermometer would be useless on top of the devil that Beelzebub has for a sideboard, its too hot down there.
Ancient Greeks invented thermometers (Score:3, Informative)
As with a great many things, you can find prior art in ancient Greece:
http://www.eoht.info/page/Thermometer [eoht.info]
Reading comprehension, you fail it (Score:2, Insightful)
Ancient Greeks invented thermometers
So? The Chinese invented gunpowder, too, but both facts are completely irrelevant to this article.
Nobody claimed Galileo invented the thermometer. He was incorrectly credited for the invention of the Galileo Thermometer.
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It does not count: they had not patented it.
Anyone but Galileo (Score:4, Funny)
I couldn't have told who invented the Galileo Thermometer, but I could have told you it wasn't Galileo.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stigler's_law_of_eponymy [wikipedia.org]
Kind of half-assed. (Score:3)
It did not explain how the device came to be known as a Galileo Thermometer.
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Nor did it say the name of the person who actually did create it, instead just mentions some scientific society.
I bet if we knew who did invent it, that would tell us why it is know as it is.
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So, it's possible that the design was Galileo's, but he didn't actually build the thing. In which case, the moniker is not entirely wrong.
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It did not explain how the device came to be known as a Galileo Thermometer.
I'm sure that he was going to call it the "Probando e Reprobando Thermometer" but was prevented from doing so by a DCMA takedown from The Accademia del Cimento.
Just as a side note... (Score:1)
Galileo also didn't invent the telescope and he wasn't beat on by The Man(tm) for his heliocentric belief either.
Oh, and Einstein was a world class plagiarist.
Wow. (Score:2)
If that doesn't dispel the global warming myth, nothing will!
In other news... (Score:3)
Other "corrective articles" by Peter Loyson include:
"You didn't write that!" - Who really writes the State of the Union?
Abe Lincoln Didn't Win the Civil War, a Bunch of Soldiers Did
Did You Know That Comedians Actually Use Scripts?
Patent Violation (Score:1)
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Yes. But I own the patent on the Internet-enabled Galileo thermometer.
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Right. (Score:1)
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At least we have good documented evidence that Lou Gehrig discovered Lou Gehrig's disease. Who can forget his speech announcing his discovery to everyone at Yankee Stadium?
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But when Stephen Hawking dies it will be renamed
Thomas and Ben (Score:1)
I suppose next you are going to tell us that Edison never invented the light bulb and Franklin never discovered electricity.
So what? (Score:1)
These eponymous connections almost never pan out.
Doctor Joseph-Ignace Guillotin was not beheaded with one of his own devices.
Dr. Richard J. Gatling was not shot by his own invention, nor was John Garand or John T. Thompson.
In fact if it wasn't for Mr Blunt Object the whole idea never would have got started in the first place.
Wrong translation!!! (Score:2)
Absoultely not...the motto of Accademia del Cimento was 'provando e riprovando', and it is a quote from Dante's [milano.it] Divine Comedy [divinecomedy.org]. You can find it at the beginning of the third Canto of the Paradiso:
Quel sol che pria d'amor mi scaldò 'l petto,
di bella verità m'avea scoverto,
provando e riprovando, il dolce aspetto;
Whoever is familiar with ancient italian will correctly translate it as