Amid the advancing infirmities of age, the isolation from friends,
and the loss of his daughter, Galileo once again sought consolation
in hard work. He commenced his famous dialogue on Motion. Gradually,
however, his sight began to fail, and blindness was at last added to
his other troubles. On January 2nd, 1638, he writes to Diodati:--
"Alas, your dear friend and servant, Galileo, has been for the last
month perfectly blind, so that this heaven, this earth, this universe
which I by my marvellous discoveries and clear demonstrations have
enlarged a hundred thousand times beyond the belief of the wise men
of bygone ages, henceforward is for me shrunk into such a small space
as is filled by my own bodily sensations."
But the end was approaching--the great philosopher, was attacked by
low fever, from which he died on the 8th January, 1643.
KEPLER.
While the illustrious astronomer, Tycho Brahe, lay on his death-bed,
he had an interview which must ever rank as one of the important
incidents in the history of science. The life of Tycho had been
passed, as we have seen, in the accumulation of vast stores of
careful observations of the positions of the heavenly bodies. It was
not given to him to deduce from his splendid work the results to
which they were destined to lead.
Pages:
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113