Identifier: galileohislifewo00fahi (find matches)
Title: Galileo, his life and work
Year: 1903 (1900s)
Authors: Fahie, J. J. (John Joseph), 1846-1934
Subjects: Galilei, Galileo, 1564-1642 Astronomy Astronomers
Publisher: London, J. Murray
Contributing Library: Wellesley College Library
Digitizing Sponsor: Boston Library Consortium Member Libraries

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hich in1603 he added an adjoining piece of groundcontaining a large arbour and vine-trellises. Thecare of this garden, the flowers, the fruits, thevines, was his great delight. He saw to every-thing and did much himself in the way of weed-ing, pruning, tying. Indeed, all his life he wasvery fond of gardening, which he followed asmuch as an education as a recreation and dis-traction from severer studies. Here he took hispleasure, sometimes alone, revolving deep thingsin philosophy, but more often surrounded bygroups of his friends, or pupils, whom he nowsported with, now charmed with performances onthe lute, which he touched with a masters hand— As sweet and musicalAs bright Apollos lute, strung with his hair, now conversed, as they strolled along the arbourand under the spreading vines, on any subjectthat presented itself—the germination of seeds,the nutrition and vegetation of plants, the makingof wines, philosophising all the while fromgrave to gay, from lively to severe. We can
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^ ^ i6io RESIDENT PUPILS 49 imagine how charming and instructive his con-versations were, for Galileo had the habit ofallowing no natural phenomena, however trivialin appearance, to escape him, and he found theadvantage of this in his lectures and writings,as it furnished him with a stock of homelyillustrations to which the daily experience of hishearers and readers readily assented, and whichhe could show to be identical in principle withthe matter in hand. Thus he could alwaysfind— Tongues in trees, books in the running brooks,Sermons in stones, and good in everything. We seem to see him now, says Favaro,writing within gunshot of the sacred garden,under the trellis of vines cared by his ownhands, surrounded by loving friends and pupils,and discoursing with them on divine philosophy;or presiding at an evening meal in summer spreadunder the grateful shade of trees or arbour; orplaying the lute, as he was always ready to doin convivial meetings. Oh! how the remem-brances of such even

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