In the Land of Galileo

This post is about my visit to Pisa, where I gave a talk on Friday at the university. My next commitment is a visit today to the VIRGO facility for detecting gravitational waves. In the intervening time I went around the town, mainly paying attention to the historical places associated with Pisa's native son Galileo, who carried out pioneering experiments on motion and astronomy, and is counted as one of the fathers of modern science.

First some words about Pisa: It is much smaller than Rome (population 90,000 versus 2.5 million). Basically a university town, with about 50,000 students. The land is flat (my host pointed out that that is why there are so many bicyclists). It is close to the sea and almost at sea level; the beautiful river Arno flows through it. The patron saint of Pisa (and of travellers!) is San Ranieri; I will be able to catch a local festival of lights in his honor (the Luminara) tonight before I leave for Florence tomorrow.

Main highlights:

1. The Leaning Tower: This is where Galileo supposedly conducted his experiments on the motion of objects under gravity, dropping them from the leaning tower to see when they landed on the ground.

   
   

   The tower leans at about 5 degrees and climbing the steps is a bit disorienting due to the inclination (also the steps are quite eroded in the middle from centuries of climbing). The bells on top are apparently the original ones and I heard them ring.

   
   

   I found it interesting how a little bit of imperfection or breaking of symmetry (5 degrees from the vertical) can have such a great effect. If the tower had been perfectly vertical, it would still be well known as a beautiful edifice, but one of many. Because it leans, it is now an icon, features in films (in an amusing scene from Superman III), and people from all over the world come to see it.

   
   

   Btw this is not the only leaning structure in Pisa, though it is certainly the most impressive. I saw two others: namely the bell towers of the Church of San Nicola and the Church of San Michele delgi Scalzi.

   
   

2. The Duomo di Pisa: This is the cathedral where Galileo apocryphally found that the frequency of the church lamp oscillation was independent of its amplitude [only a genius would notice this-:)]. The outside (sculpture) and inside (paintings, sculpture, woodwork) are both impressive.

   
   

3. The Baptistery: This is where Galileo was baptized. Extensive in diameter, high in dome, with lovely acoustics. Wikipedia says it is the largest baptistery in Italy.

   
   

I should mention that these three buildings are all part of the Piazza dei Miracolei, which also contains

4. The Camposanto Monumentale: A covered cemetery with multiple sarcophagi and gigantic frescoes, which does not contain Galileo's grave, but does have a statue commemorating Fibonacci. I noticed that a lot of professors are buried there (the professions of the dead are inscribed on the graves).

   
   

5. Ammanati House: Named after his mother, who was believed to have returned to it to give Galileo birth.

   
   

6. Statue: There's at least one in Pisa, which I came across, on the Largo Ciro Menotti. Probably there are more.

   
   

7. Lungarno Galileo Galilei: Lungo means "along"; this is a street along the river Arno, named after Galileo. (In Rome there is the Lungotevere - along the Tiber)

   
   

Of course, Galileo taught at the University (in the department of mathematics, from where I got picked up for my VIRGO tour).

Summary

A small (I walked to my hotel from the airport) and quiet but very historical and fascinating town. Some of the original town walls are preserved. The presence of so many students brings energy and bustle to the place.

Afterword

Next week- Florence!