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Upon reaching home, Galileo put his theory to test. And so, in the swinging of an oil lamp, he discovered his important principle, the law of motion, which is applied today in the measurement of time, the eclipses of the sun and the movement of the stars.
一回到家，伽利略立即將他的理論付諸試驗。于是，在油燈的搖擺中，他發現了重要的規律，也就是今天應用于計量時間、日食以及星體移動的運動規律。
It wasn't long before his professors found out about his secret studies and experiments and expressed their disapproval in no uncertain terms. It was considered wrong for a student to think for himself because all scientific problems, they declared, had all been settled by Aristotle. If a student was bold enough to say anything different, his professor would settle the argument with a quotation from Aristotle: "The Master has spoken..." And that was that. But Galileo went so far as to follow up his criticism with experiments of his own. This was going too far. For the good of the university as well as the good of his own soul, they had to curb this recklessness. They notified Galileo's father of his misdoings and the old man begged his son to settle down and obey his professors.
不久教授們發現了伽利略私下的研究和實驗，明確表示他們很不贊同。他們認為學生獨立思考是不對的，因為他們講過，所有的科學問題都已經讓亞里士多德解決了。如果一個學生膽敢提出異議，他的教授就會拿出亞里士多德來擺平爭議：“亞里士多德曾經說過……?！碑敃r就是這樣。但是伽利略研究深入，受到批評后仍然繼續實驗。這在其他人看來太過分了。為了學校著想，也為了伽利略本人著想,他們必須約束他這種魯莽的行為。他們把伽利略做的錯事告訴了他的父親，老人家乞求兒子安分下來，聽老師的話。
But the plea fell on deaf ears. Galileo had dedicated his life to the examination of nature and the pursuit of scientific truths. There could be no turning back now.
但是伽利略對于父親的請求置若罔聞。他全身心地投入到對自然的研究和對科學真理的追求中。現在他已經無法回頭了。
