Galileo

Galileo was born in Pisa, Italy in the  year 1564 and died in 1642. He was an  Italian astronomer and physics whose achievement include improvement of the telescope, and astronomical observation. He also made important contribution towards the making of the laws of motion. He is known as the “ father of modern astronomy “, the “father of modern physics” and the “father of science”.

In 1581, while studying at the University of Pisa, Galilleo began his study of the pendulum and in 1602 he discovered that  the time in which a pendulum swings back and forth does not depend on the arc of the swing. This significant discovery led to the development of the pendulum clock.

While at the University of Pisa, Galilleo questioned the approach used by Aristotle to physics. Aristotle said that heavier objects falls faster than lighter ones. However, Galilleo proved that no matter what their density, all objects fall at the same speed in empty space. To show this , he did many experiments  by dropping objects from a certain height. He climbed the leaning tower of Pisa dropping two balls of different weight from the top to prove this theory. These discoveries of motion were written in his book De Motu (On Motion).

In 1609, Galileo’s  made his first telescope which was inspired by the ones made in Holland. Later that year , he created a telescope that could magnified object up to twenty times. The telescope allowed him to look at the moon , the star and planet. This lead him to discover more about planets such as Jupiter and Venus. These discoveries allowed him to prove that the Copernicus system which says that the Earth and other planets revolve around the sun was correct. People of his time thought that the stars, the sun, the moon and other planets revolved around the earth. He published his discoveries in The Starry, Messenger (1610) and later in the dialog of the Two Chief  system of the World (1632). However, this theory got him into trouble with the Catholic church. He was sent to his home near Florence and was kept under house arrest for the rest of his life.

Galileo’s originality as a scientist can be attributed to his unique method of enquiry. First , he would reduced problems to a simple set of meanings based on common sense and everyday experiences. He would then look closely and solve these problems according to simple mathematical rules. His techniques of observing motion paved the way for present day mathematical and experimental physics. For example, another great scientist , Isaac Newton used Galileo’s ideas to develop his own scientific ideas, especially the laws of motion and inertia .

At the age of 72, Galileo’s became blind. Many thoughts this happen because of two much time spend observing the sun through the telescope he made. He died while still under house arrest in the year 1642.