LIFE OF GALILEO GALILEI

Galileo Galilei was born on 15 February 1564 and died on 8 January 1642. He was an Italian astronomer, engineer, mathematician and physicist associated with the scientific revolution. He had a keen interest in almost all sciences and even the arts such as music, literature and painting. He is considered the father of modern astronomy.

His father wanted him to study and be an intelligent and intellectual man, so he began to study medicine. Later, he realised that the path of medicine did not fully satisfy him and he discovered mathematics, his main passion.

Since then, he has been remembered and recognised as one of the men of the Renaissance.

CURIOSITIES ABOUT THE ASTRONOMER

Some of the curiosities of Galileo Galilei’s life are:

  • As we have already mentioned, his father introduced him to the world of medicine and he entered university. However, he later realised that mathematics was his true passion. He did all this at a very young age and his career as a scientist began very early. By the age of 24 he was already a renowned scientist in Italy, in fact, the University of Pisa offered him a post to teach mathematics.
  • Galileo Galilei invented the thermoscope (an invention that predated the thermometer). It consisted of a glass tube ending in a closed sphere filled with alcohol and water. Floating in the tube were several coloured spheres, each with a label showing the degrees. Depending on the temperature of the liquid, the spheres floated or sank. The lower one indicated the temperature.
  • In 1610 Galileo discovered the four moons of Jupiter and, at the same time, he discovered a strange oval around Saturn. Later observations determined that these were its rings. Both discoveries completely changed the understanding of the solar system.
  • Galileo Galilei did not invent the telescope. What he did was to change the existing one and improve it completely. Galileo’s telescope did not distort objects and magnified them six times more than the previous telescope created in Holland.
  • Apart from medicine and mathematics, Galileo Galilei was passionate about philosophy. He was a faithful follower of Pythagoras, Plato and Archimedes, but was strongly opposed to the theories of Aristotle.
  • He was persecuted by the Catholic Church for different theories that he defended, and this meant that none of his work was published until 1718, as when he died the church had great power in science and would not allow his ideas to see the light of day.
  • The astronomer’s eyesight gradually deteriorated until he became blind. Supposedly this was due to his astronomical observations and the light of the sun. Even so, he never stopped thinking and innovating and, to this end, he hired an apprentice to be his eyes.
  • After being accused by the Inquisition of “grave suspicion of heresy”, Galileo Galilei was sentenced to house arrest for life, that is, until the day of his death on 8 January 1642.

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