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Essay about The Life and Work of Galileo

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The Life and Work of Galileo

Galileo Galilei is considered to be one of the greatest mathematicians of all time. He made life changing discoveries and mystified many with his knowledge. However, not all of his work was accepted well. Galileo challenged the church creating a controversy that will never be forgotten.

Galileo Galilei was born in Pisa, Italy February 18, 1564. He was the son of Vincenzo Galilei, a member of a Nobel family, a musician and a mathematician. Galileo, at an early age, developed a great love for mathematics and mechanics. However, his parents urged him to seek medical professions which promised more fortune. Galileo’s love for mathematics turned him away from his parents wishes only to follow his natural …show more content…

His laws of free-fall were then established and have remained the same ever since. He also wrote the laws of projectiles and formulated what would eventually become Newton’s laws. Not only that, but Galileo also discovered the principles of flotation and invented a thermoscope. However, the thermoscope was defective.

Galileo’s discoveries of astronomy, for which he is mostly known, resulted from his invention of the telescope. He considered the laws of refraction, he built a telescope that made it possible to see objects at three times their size. Within one night he improved it to be able to see objects to thirty-two times their size. As a result of these discoveries, he began his research of the heavens.

His first discovery showed that the moon was not a smooth sphere as was commonly believed, but contained hills and valleys much like the earth. He also discovered the satellites of Jupiter which displayed characteristics much like those of our own solar system. However, in contradiction to popular Copernican belief that Mercury and Venus were transparent and did not block the sun’s rays, Galileo found that they, too, were much like our own planet with phases like the moon. Finally, he also discovered sunspots.

Galileo’s support of Copernican theory as truth raised much controversy with ecclesiastical authorities. "The direct services which Galileo rendered to astronomy are virtually summed up in his

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