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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，伽利略立即将他的理论付诸试验。于是，在油灯的摇摆中，他发现了重要的规律，也就是今天应用于计量时间、日食以及星体移动的运动规律。
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.
不久教授们发现了伽利略私下的研究和实验，明确表示他们很不赞同。他们认为学生独立思考是不对的，因为他们讲过，所有的科学问题都已经让亚里士多德解决了。如果一个学生胆敢提出异议，他的教授就会拿出亚里士多德来摆平争议：“亚里士多德曾经说过……。”当时就是这样。但是伽利略研究深入，受到批评后仍然继续实验。这在其他人看来太过分了。为了学校着想，也为了伽利略本人着想,他们必须约束他这种鲁莽的行为。他们把伽利略做的错事告诉了他的父亲，老人家乞求儿子安分下来，听老师的话。
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.
但是伽利略对于父亲的请求置若罔闻。他全身心地投入到对自然的研究和对科学真理的追求中。现在他已经无法回头了。
