Galileo Galilei was an Italian mathematician, physicist, philosopher, and astronomer. He had a major role in the Scientific Revolution. He was born on February 15, 1564 and died January 8, 1642.He married Marina Gamba and had three children. During his 77 years of living, he accomplished many achievements.
In his early years, Galileo studied at the University of Pisa. His father hoped he would study medicine, but he began his study of the pendulum. He watched a hanging lamp swing back and forth in the Cathedral of Pisa. He also learned physics of Aristotle at the university, but he questioned Aristotle's approach. Galileo proved that all objects fall and hit the ground at the same time.
Later, he got a job at University of Padua as a mathematics professor. Galileo found clear evidence of a heliocentric universe. He proved the Jupiter has 4 moons and the planets rotate around a sun.
He was charged with heresy (anti-Church teachings) when he published his findings in 1632. Galileo was put under house arrest and monitored for the rest of his life.
Galileo attempted to measure the speed of light by placing people with lanterns about a mile apart. He was unsuccessful. He also looked into cohesion, and concluded that a waterfall breaks when the weight of the water gets too heavy. During his time, he also built a better telescope. Galileo's telescopes only had a magnification of about 30x. In 1612, he observed Neptune, but thought it was a distant star. Galileo also observed Saturn's rings, but to him they looked like they were two separate bodies attached to the planet. Galileo also made the first working thermometer, but it was not very accurate.
Galileo Galilei was one of the greatest scientists during the Scientific Revolution. Through his ups...