Galileo Galilei

Italian astronomer, physicist, philosopher. “Father of modern observational astronomy”

[ Born: 1564 / Pisa, Italy ]

[ Died: 1642 / Tuscany, Italy ]

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• Was the first to state that the laws of nature are mathematical, i.e. could be written via mathematics and gemometry. Rejected blind allegiance to philosophy and religion in matters of science and developed scientific methods for experimentation.
• In the early 1600s made significant developments to the telescope, improving magnification up to 30x – this development became known as his terrestrial telescope.
• 1610 - discovered the four of Jupiter’s largest moons, Callisto, Io, Europa and Ganymede. These were later named the Galilean satellites. Was also the first to report lunar mountains and craters and proposed that the moon was “rough and uneven”, similar to the earth.
• Supported Copernicus’ proposal that the earth was not the centre of the universe, but rather that the earth orbited around the sun. This led to Galileo being found guilty of heresy by a roman inquisition in 1633. He was forced to recant and spent the remainder of his life under house arrest.
• In the late 1500s, invented a “geometrical and military compass” which was a development of previous instruments. In 1593 invented a thermometer which used air captured in a bulb to move water in a tube. In 1624 he had developed a working microscope, and was used to view insects.
• Proposed the theory that any falling body would accelerate at the same rate if the medium’s resistance (or drag) was negligible. Much of his work on mechanics was verified in Newton’s laws of motion. Also, proposed a basic theory of relativity which became an integral part of Newton’s laws of motion and of Einstein’s theory of relativity

Trivia - In 1992, Pope John Paul II apologised for Galileo’s treatment at the inquisition of 1633 - 359 years later! “Galileo, perhaps more than any other single person, was responsible for the birth of modern science." – Stephen Hawking.

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