Quotes about Galileo from people of his time eg. Aristotle?

Question

what were some quotes people said about galileo Galilie during his time. eg Aristotle

Answer 1

Aristotle a contemporary of Galileo? Not really. Aristotle and Galileo missed each other by about 2000 years.

Galileo was, by accounts, not popular. He was arrogant and condescending. It was precisely this attitude that got him in trouble with the church and led to his arrest and imprisonment.

Answer 2

Sir Henry Wotton, who was the English ambassador to Venice at the time of the publication of Galileo's book "Siderius Nuncius" [Starry Messenger] in March 1610, posted a copy of the book to King James I (VI of Scotland) and in a covering note made the following observation:

"So as upon the whole subject he [Galileo] hath first overthrown all former astronomy - for we must have a new sphere to save the appearances - and next all astrology.  For the virtue of these new planets must needs vary the judicial part, and why may there not yet be more? ... the author runneth a fortune to be either exceedingly famous or exceedingly ridiculous."

I first heard about this particular quote in a talk by a physics professor I attended recently which the professor in question had prepared as part of the celebration of the International Year of Astronomy which has been promulgated for 2009.

Answer 3

Aristotle had been dead for something like 1800 years by the time Galileo was alive.  Anyway, I'd be interested in some answers that might give what his contemporaries thought of him.  I know he was referred to as a "wrangler." He was an adamant arguer, reportedly belligerent and acerbic much of the time.

Answer 4

"I'm dead" -Aristotle.

Galileo was a great man.  A proponent of the Scientific Theory, even though he often didn't follow its tenets too strictly... still, he wasn't what could be described as a 'sweetie'.  He often got angry with fellow scientists that disagreed with him, and would write insults about them, where he might have more effectively spent his time refuting their arguments.

Kepler was a contemporary.  Though himself a bit on the screwball side, Kepler could not have been too thrilled with Galileo as they disagreed about the shape of the orbits of the planets and more importantly (to them) the root cause of tides.  Galileo thought tides were due to sloshing about while in orbit, Kepler blamed it on the Moon.