physics greater scientist Galileo Galilei

Galileo Galilei

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"Galileo" redirects here. For other uses of "Galileo", see Galileo (disambiguation). For other uses of "Galileo Galilei", see Galileo Galilei (disambiguation).

Galileo Galilei
Portrait of Galileo Galilei by Giusto Sustermans
Born	15 February 1564 Pisa, Duchy of Florence, Italy
Died	8 January 1642 (aged 77) Arcetri, Grand Duchy of Tuscany, Italy
Residence	Grand Duchy of Tuscany, Italy
Nationality	Italian
Fields	Astronomy, physics, natural philosophy and mathematics
Institutions	University of Pisa University of Padua
Patrons	Cardinal del Monte Fra Paolo Sarpi Prince Federico Cesi Cosimo II de Medici Ferdinando II de Medici Maffeo Barberini
Alma mater	University of Pisa
Academic advisors	Ostilio Ricci[1]
Notable students	Benedetto Castelli Mario Guiducci Vincenzo Viviani[2]
Known for	Kinematics Dynamics Telescopic observational astronomy Heliocentrism
Signature
Notes His father was the musician Vincenzo Galilei. Galileo Galilei's mistress Marina Gamba (1570 – 21 August 1612?) bore him two daughters (Maria Celeste (Virginia, 1600–1634) and Livia (1601–1659), both of whom became nuns) and a son Vincenzo (1606–1649), a lutenist.

Galileo Galilei (Italian pronunciation: [ɡaliˈlɛːo ɡaliˈlɛi]; 15 February 1564^[3] – 8 January 1642), often known mononymously as Galileo, was an Italian physicist, mathematician, engineer, astronomer, and philosopher who played a major role in the scientific revolution. His achievements include improvements to the telescope and consequent astronomical observations and support for Copernicanism. Galileo has been called the "father of modern observational astronomy",^[4] the "father of modern physics",^[5][6] the "father of science",^[6][7] and "the Father of Modern Science".^[8]
His contributions to observational astronomy include the telescopic confirmation of the phases of Venus, the discovery of the four largest satellites of Jupiter (named the Galilean moons in his honour), and the observation and analysis of sunspots. Galileo also worked in applied science and technology, inventing an improved military compass and other instruments.
Galileo's championing of heliocentrism was controversial within his lifetime, a time when most subscribed to either geocentrism or the Tychonic system.^[9] He met with opposition from astronomers, who doubted heliocentrism due to the absence of an observed stellar parallax.^[9] The matter was investigated by the Roman Inquisition in 1615, which concluded that heliocentrism was false and contrary to scripture, placing works advocating the Copernican system on the index of banned books and forbidding Galileo from advocating heliocentrism.^[9][10] Galileo later defended his views in Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems, which appeared to attack Pope Urban VIII, thus alienating not only the Pope but also the Jesuits, both of whom had supported Galileo up until this point.^[9] He was tried by the Holy Office, then found "vehemently suspect of heresy", was forced to recant, and spent the rest of his life under house arrest.^[11][12] It was while Galileo was under house arrest that he wrote one of his finest works, Two New Sciences, in which he summarised the work he had done some forty years earlier, on the two sciences now called kinematics and strength of materials.^[13][14]