Part 6/10:

Historical Perspectives on Measuring Light's Speed

Attempting to measure the speed of light has a storied history. In the 17th century, Galileo Galilei demonstrated efforts to assess light's speed but found his tools insufficient for accurate results. Ultimately, Danish astronomer Ole Romer used the eclipses of Jupiter’s moon Io to estimate light's finite speed, linking discrepancies in measurements to the varying distances between Earth and Jupiter.

Later refinements led to other scientists, including experiments by French physicists, edging closer to the universal speed of light we recognize today. It wasn't until the late 20th century that the speed of light was standardized to precisely 299,792,458 meters per second via modern scientific advancements.