While this story has been retold in popular accounts, there is no account by Galileo himself of such an experiment, and it is generally accepted by historians that it was at most a thought experiment which did not actually take place. (拙訳) こういった話(斜塔実験)が俗説として語り継がれてきたが、 ガリレオ自身がそのような実験を行った事を示す書類は存在しない。 一般的には、多めに見てもガリレオは斜塔実験を実際に行う代わりに思考実験を行っただけであろうと歴史家には受け止められている
参考文献 Groleau, Rick. "Galileo's Battle for the Heavens. July 2002". Ball, Phil. "Science history: setting the record straight. 30 June 2005". An exception is Drake (1978, pp.19--21, 414--416), who argues that the experiment did take place, more or less as Viviani described it.