Galileo Galilei's Biography

Image: Galileo GalileiImage Credit: Encarta Encyclopedia

Galilei Galileo (1564-1642) an Italian physicist and astronomer, was greatly remembered for some very important contributions to astronomy and physics. He was also known for his battle against the authorities for freedom of inquiry. Early in his life, Galileo was taught by monks at Vallombrosa, and then entered the university of Pisa in 1581 to study medicine. He soon turned to philosophy and mathematics and left the University without a degree in 1585. In 1589 he became professor of mathematics at Pisa. He supposedly taught theories that contradicted Aristotle's theories, and in 1592 his contract was not renewed. The same year he was appointed the chair of mathematics at the University of Padua, which he remained at until 1610. While at Padua, he invented a 'calculating compass' for solving mathematics problems. In 1609 he heard that in Holland a spy glass had been invented, and he was inspired to create the first telescope, which was as powerful as a modern day field glass. By December of the same year, he had built another telescop twenty times stronger than the first, which he was able to discovery craters on the moon with, stars in the milky way, and the four largest satellites of Jupiter. He had also observed the phases of Venus by this time. After his great discoveries, he mainly stuck to writing books. In 1613 he published a book about sunspots, 1624 a book called Dialogue on the Tides, which he discusses Ptolemaic and Copernican theories, in which he got himself reprimanded by the Inquisition of Rome.