Galileo" redirects here. For other uses of "Galileo", see
Galileo . For other uses of "Galileo Galilei", see
Galileo Galilei
Galileo Galilei (
Italian pronunciation: [ɡaliˈlɛːo ɡaliˈlɛi]; 15 February 1564
[4] – 8 January 1642),
[5] was an Italian
physicist,
mathematician,
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",
[6] the "father of modern
physics",
[7] the "father of science",
[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, 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, and they concluded that it could be supported as only a possibility, not an established fact.
[9][10] Galileo later defended his views in
Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems, which appeared to attack Pope
Urban VIII and thus alienated him and the
Jesuits, who had both supported Galileo up until this point.
[9]
He was tried by the Inquisition, found "vehemently suspect of heresy",
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