Brown takes a look at Galileo and his use of the telescope
to make his observations. It is very important that we have an understanding
about the tools and methods that we employ to study the different phenomena
that interest us. Other scientists of Galileo's times felt that the usage of
the telescope introduced illusions that did not exist in naked eye observation.
These observations were largely because manufacturing methods were not
sufficiently advanced to the task of producing reliable lenses or mountings for
them.
Galileo was particularly sensitive to all of these
considerations, and he worked at getting reliable observations from his tools
after learning their peculiarities. The importance of this is that similar
considerations exist today if not in as advanced of a state.
Proper knowledge to use a research tool to characterize a
material, observe a phenomenon, or calculate a value is extremely important in
any advanced science education. There are long training sessions for the
advanced equipment used in a research school. There are safety briefings on
what can and cannot harm a tool or a user. All of these considerations exist to
use the tool most effectively to get reliable results.
The benefit that we have today is that there exists a strong
manufacturing method for creating precision scientific equipment. While Galileo
was unable to benefit from such a thing existing, he did show that one could
work with subpar tools to great success.
I think it is also important to note that Galileo took into
considerations the phenomena that our eyes observe in general when observing
light. He saw how light interacted to change what we perceived whether it be a
diffuse image due to something being far away or out of focus to the affect
that the atmosphere plays on observations to something as simple as the tear
content or squinting of the eye.
The takeaway for students I think should be to understand
your equipment. We ask questions on error in measurements in the measurements
lab that students take, but we do not revisit it all that much beyond that
until you make it to the advanced lab course in my experience.
Harold I. Brown, "Galileo on the telescope and the eye," Journal of the History of Ideas, Vol. 46, pages 487-501 (1985)
