Galileo Galilei
Madison McGraw and Austin Scheetz
General Information
- Born February 15, 1564
- Died January 8th, 1642
- Born in Italy
- Educated through the University of Pisa
- Galileo's father was a musician
- He taught at the Accademia delle Arti del Disegno in Florence
Major Accomplishments
- Law of Pendulum- was his first accomplishment at age 20 he noticed a lamp swinging back and forth in a Cathedral keeping time.
- The Telescope- with up to 30x magnification at age 44
- Observed Jupiter's moons and sun spots for the first time
- He was the first person to suggest heliocentrism
- He began to experiment with temperatures eventually leading to the discovery of the thermometer
Personal and Professional Challenges
- Galileo's concept of heliocentrism was not well received by the Church. The clergy claimed the idea goes against Scripture, and punished Galileo for the idea. He spent the rest of his life under house arrest.
- When Galileo was a teenager he wanted to be a Monk, but his father was against this idea so he decided he would never stop learning and discovering. He then decided he would go to college more than once in his lifetime. He attended the University of Pisa and then later the University of Padua for Mathematics
Interesting Facts
- A hundred years after Galileo's death while being moved for reburial, his finger was snapped off by a fan as a memento. The finger is now on display in Florence pointing towards Rome.
- He remained a devout Catholic his whole life, but never married the mother of his three children.
- The Church never formally cleared him of wrong doing until 1992