GALILEO

Did you Know? -

Galileo Galilee was born in 1564 and died in 1642. He is most famous for his many thought experiments in motion. As well, he made astronomical discoveries, such as the moons of Jupiter.But, Galileo was perhaps best known for his battle with the Church. He agreed with the philosophy that the planets revolved around the sun. This heliocentric model was first popularized by Nicholas Copernicus of Poland. Galileo was a very popular man in Italy and had contacts in high places. Despite this, he wrote the various publications of his ideas and concepts in Italian as opposed to Latin. As a result, all the common folk could understand what Galileo was saying. Inspite of Galileo's great contributions to science, the church tried to stop his work. In fact, they forced him to retract his theories and state that the Earth was the center of the universe. Galileo's publications were not recognized by the church as late as 1979 - more that 300 years after his death.

If you want more information on Galileo or other scientists, visit one of the following web pages: A page describing the differences between Aristotle and Galileo

: http://csep10.phys.utk.edu/astr161/lect/history/aristotle_dynamics.html

A list of many scientist's biographies: http://hermes.astro.washington.edu/scied/physics/physbio.html