Galileo+Galilei+(v2.0)

Galileo Galilei
February 15, 1564- January 8, 1642

Galileo was an Italian physicist, mathematician, astronomer, and philosopher. He was known by a few names: -the "father of modern observational astronomy" -the "father of modern physics" -the "father of science" -the "father of modern science"

He taught mathematics privately in Florence and from 1585 to 1586 he taught at Siena. He was able to construct a vastly superior model of a telescope from a very brief description. As a professor of astronomy at University of Pisa, he was required to teach the accepted theory of his time, which said that everything revolved around the Earth. He believed in Copernicus's sun-centered theory, which said that the earth and all the other planets revolve around the sun. This was because he had made observations with his new telescope and was convinced of the truth of Copernicus's statement. He got into trouble with the Roman Catholic Church and ended up being convicted of heresy, and was forced to publicly withdraw his support of Copernicus. He was sentenced to life imprisonment by the Inquisition, but was allowed to serve his term under house arrest at his Villa in Arcetri because of his advanced age. One of Galileo's mathematical descriptions, "The Law of Inertia", was used by Isaac Newton as the foundation for his "First Law of Motion." Galileo became blind at the age of 72, and it was believed that it had been caused by his telescopic observations of the sun in 1613. the truth was that his blindness was caused by a combination of cataracts and glaucoma. He died at Arcetri in 1642.

Galileo's Accomplishments
Galileo's major accomplishment was the improvements he made to the invention of the telescope.

These improvements proved revolutionary because of the discoveries Galileo was able to make while using the instrument. At the time, the moon was believed to be the only one in existence, unique to the planet Earth. However, Galileo soon discovered (with his telescope) that Jupiter not only had a moon as well, but four. In addition, the moon to which we are accustomed was believed to be a smooth sphere. This belief was also disproved by Galileo, who saw through his telescope the craters that cover the moon.

Galileo's accomplishments were made on an existing invention. The original telescopes, which Galileo made improvements to, were developed in the Netherlands in 1608 by Hans Lippershey, Zacharias Janssen, and Jacob Metius.

During his life, Galileo had also invented numerous other scientific devices. To see some of these other inventions, view the proceeding links.

Related Links
[|The Galileo Project] [|The Discovery of the Galilean Satellites] [|Historic Figures: Galileo Galilei] [|Galileo Exhibit in Philadelphia]

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