Measure what is measurable, and make measurable what is not so.
-Galileo Galilei
Galileo Galilei
1564-1642
About
Galileo Galilei was an Italian philosopher, astronomer, and mathematician who was born on February 15, 1564 in Pisa, Italy. He contributed in many ways to science, motion, astronomy, and the scientific method. He died in January 8, 1642.
Motion
Galileo discovered inertia, the resistance to any object in motion to any change in its velocity. He invented hydrostatic balance in 1586, the state that a fluid is in when it is at rest. It is the balance between outside pressure and gravity with the fluid. Another discovery that Galileo made about motion was that free falling objects fall with the same acceleration. Legend has it that he dropped two weights from the Leaning Tower of Pisa.
Astronomy
Galileo Galilei made many discoveries about astronomy as well, including inventing the telescope. He was the first person to look at the moon through a telescope, and found that the moon wasn’t smooth, but had craters and mountains like Earth. He concluded that the tides were caused by the rotation of Earth on its own axis, and the movement of the Earth around the Sun. We have learned now that it is because of the moon, but it was a very controversial theory at the time. He also discovered sun spots. Galileo also believed in Copernicus’s theory that the Earth and other planets revolved around the sun. The Catholic Church attacked his theories, worried that they would weaken people’s faith. They forced him to declare is new findings incorrect.
Renaissance and Reformation 