The size of hell according to Galileo and where it is located. The Jerusalem Dome

Hello ATS!

I thought, why not hit the "backward religious fanatics" with science today? Yes, easy)))

So.

With the publication of Dante Alighieri's "Divine Comedy", the outlines of hell became quite "tangible" for the masses of believers. The poet described hell as a huge funnel in the ground, covered with a domed roof. Inside, the funnel was divided into nine tiers (9 circles of hell), where the last circle was intended for the most terrible criminals.

According to Dante's descriptions, in the 9th circle, Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Jesus, and Marcus Junius Brutus with Cassius (the murderers of Gaius Julius Caesar), who are tormented by Lucifer with three mouths, are in eternal torment.



Now the churchmen did not need to strain their imagination to scare the flock with something figurative, because there was a "reliable" source indicating to sinners where and what torments they would have to endure. But still, the holy fathers wanted more specifics than Dante had indicated.

The initiator of the creation of the mathematical structure of hell was the Academy of Fine Arts of the glorious city of Florence. In 1588, Galileo Galilei, who was only 24 years old, was the undisputed authority in the field of mathematics in this city. The young man received an assignment from the Academy to calculate the dimensions of the underworld, and it was necessary to base it on the work of Alighieri. And Galileo enthusiastically set to work.

Certain outlines in this area already existed; the Florentine architect Antonio Manetti had previously tried to describe the structure of hell in mathematical language. Manetti also imagined the underworld as a huge cone-shaped funnel, covered by a dome, which was formed when Lucifer was cast down from heaven.



Galileo's first task was to establish the size of the funnel. It was already known from Dante's poem that Jerusalem was located in the center of the dome covering hell.

The sun was already approaching, invisible to us,
With that horizon, whose midday circle
Lied its summit over Jerusalem;

It was also known that the "gates to hell" were in the labyrinths under the Temple of Apollo near the settlement of Cumae.

Based on the known distance between Jerusalem and Cumae, Galileo was able to establish the diameter of the hellish funnel, it turned out to be approximately 5,500 km (according to estimates of that time, the cities were located at a distance of about 2,700 km from each other).



After analyzing the lines of the Divine Comedy, Galileo came to the conclusion that the radius of the Earth coincides with the diameter of the cone, therefore, at a depth of 5500 km underground is the top of hell, where Satan languishes.

Based on Manetti's calculations and Dante's book, the young mathematician came to the conclusion that the generatrix of the cone of hell makes an angle of 60 degrees with its base.

Galileo's next step was to apply proportional scaling to the data from the Divine Comedy. He compared the sizes of all familiar objects with the parameters of the devil. Thus, it was possible to establish that Satan was 1180 m tall.



Since Alighieri indicated that hell is covered with a dome, Galileo decided to calculate the parameters of this dome as well. How thick should it be so as not to crumble under its own weight?

Galileo based his calculations on the dome of the Florence Cathedral. Its thickness, with a diameter of 45 m, was 4 m. Having made calculations using the "method of simple proportions", similar to the height of Satan, the mathematician came to the conclusion that the thickness of the dome of hell should be 460 kilometers.

But the great Italian was wrong. The proportions were correct for the cathedral, but completely unsuitable for a dome of such a huge size. Galileo realized his mistake while lecturing on the structure of the underworld, he realized that the thickness was too small, and the dome would not withstand its own weight.

Galileo preferred to remain silent about this fact, but later he derived the famous square-cube law, which is still used by many engineers.

Such are the interesting facts. The thread is a compilation from several sources.

Thank you.

originally posted by: RussianTroll
Galileo's first task was to establish the size of the funnel. It was already known from Dante's poem that Jerusalem was located in the center of the dome covering hell.

Dante's inferno is a fun story to read .. but you do understand that it is fiction .. made up ... right? Jerusalem is not the true location of the entrance to Hell. There isn't just one gateway to Hell .. or just one gateway to Heaven either. That's theologically not true. It's just a (fun and interesting) story.

a reply to: FlyersFan
You write as if you have personally been to Hell)))

This is understandable, since the Sabbatians (in the European tradition, the Frankists) have been exuding the Catholic Church from within for centuries.))))