GALILEO GALILEI

All truths are easy to understand once they are discovered; the point is to discover them. 

Full Name: Mr. Galileo Galilei 

Date of Birth: February 15, 1564 

Place of Birth: PISA ITALY

Died: January 8, 1642 

Place of Death: ARCETRI , ITALY 

Although he was a Roman Catholic, Galileo Galilei was criticized more than once by the church for his astrological theories and his support of Copernicus. He was, at his time, not only one of the world’s foremost astrologers, but a philosopher, physicist, and mathematician as well.

Born in the Tuscany region of Italy, he was the son of a mathematician and a musician. After receiving an excellent education as a young boy, he attended the University of Pisa as an adult. But, because of financial burdens, he was forced to quit. When the faculty saw how brilliant he was, they decided to give him a position teaching mathematics. He then moved to the University of Padua and taught mechanics and astronomy. During his time there, he had two daughters and one son, even though he wasn’t married.

Within a few years, he decided to go to Rome where he could be with other major scientific thinkers of the day. When a priest accused him of heresy against the Catholic Church for his beliefs, Galileo published a controversial book called The Assayer. The Holy Office, however, had other plans for him and forced him into house arrest where he was not allowed to leave his villa unsupervised. With the publication of his newest book entitled Two New Sciences, he was watched even closer.

Galileo is considered one of the first true scientists because of his system of hypothesis and experimentation. He would analyze what he found mathematically and attempted to not let biased notions of philosophy or his church upbringing affect his final judgment. He was also noted for using quantitative measurements. While there is a minor misconception that he invented the telescope, in reality he devised a better model based on sketches. He sold his telescopes to other astronomers and to merchants who wanted to watch for their incoming ships. Additionally, he published Sidereus Nuncius, which outlined his astrological findings. He found that Jupiter did have moons that revolved around it. This led to even more controversy at the time because most believed all celestial bodies orbited the Earth. He also discovered lunar mountains and valleys, and added on to previous discoveries of sunspots, which displayed the ‘imperfections’ of what was thought to be a perfect universe. The discoveries he made in several fields with his limited resources and support display his advanced scientific thinking beyond the West’s previously limited scope.