Galileo+Galilei+09

**By: Jonathan Rockett**

**Birth and Death** Galileo was born in Pisa, Italy in 1564 and died 1642. His father sent Galileo to the University of Pisa to study medicine. Galileo also became interested in math and Aristotelian philosophy. **Acomplishments** Galileo invented the telescope and was a physicist and mathematician. Galileo also discovered the four largest moons of Jupiter. Before Galileo, people thought that Earth was the center of the solar system. Then Galileo jioned a community and gathered enough information to prove that the Sun was the center of our solar system. Galileo wrote a book called "The Little Balence" in 1586. It stated how to wheigh objects on air or water. He also wrote a book called "Le Operazioni del Compasso Geometrico et Militare" in 1606. It showed the operation of a geometrical and military compass. **Childhood to Adulthood** When Galileo was 17 he enrolled as a medical stdent at the university at Pisa. His parents were poor and wanted Galileo to be a doctor. Three years later Galileo saw a lamp swinging and timed it with his pulse. He discovered that each swing, great or weak took the same amount of time. At 20 years old, Galileo had just discovered the law of the pendulum. In 1657 Galileo's discovery led to the Dutch mathematician, physicist, and astronomer Christian Huygens to apply a pendulum in regulating a clock. The pendulum was used to regulate most clocks for about 250 years. Galileo gave up medicine for matter, energy, motion, and force. After four years at the university Galileo dropped out without graduating because his family was to poor to continue the good education. Even though he proved that the sun did not travel around the earth, he did not get a scholarship. The professors would only state that the Bible and the ancients were always right. Over the next couple years Galileo mastered mathematics with help from his friend, Ostilio Ricci, a professor of mathematician. While experimenting with floating objects, Galileo invented hydrostatic balance. This tool measures accurately the specific mass of a certain material. He does this by comparing the mass with a tub of water. Galileo found that gold had a mass of 19.3 which means that if the gold was hollow and you filled it up with water, the gold would way 19.3 times heavier than the same volume but with water. In 1589, 25 year old Galileo returned to the university of Pisa as a professor of mathematics. Aristotle, had claimed that heavier objects fall to the earth faster than lighter object. Galileo was determined to prove him wrong.
 * Interesting Facts**

Galileo went to the top of the Leaning tower of Pisa and dropped weights from 180 feet up. The two weights with different masses landed only about a hands width apart. Using Geometry and Math, Galileo calculated that some of the mountains on the moons were up to 4 miles high! Galileo found out that the earth and other planets circled the sun by thinking, "If earth has a moon and Jupiter has many moons, earth and other planets might be like a moon for the sun!"

Galileo was the father of three children. His wife was Marina Gamba. They had two duaters and one son. The duater's names were Virginia in 1600 and Livia in 1601. The son's name was Vincenzo and he was born in 1606. Virginia died on April 3, 1634 and Livia lived ill for most of her life. It was Vincenzo who maried Sestilia Bocchineri. Galileo's father, Vencenzo Galilei, was the reason Galileo called his son Vencenzo.

Galileo invented many mechanical devices other than the pump. But perhaps his most famous invention was the telescope. Galileo made his first telescope in 1609, modeled after telescopes produced in other parts of Europe that could magnify objects three times. He created a telescope later that same year that could magnify objects twenty times. With this telescope, he was able to look at the moon, discover the four satellites of Jupiter observe a supernova, verify the phases of Venus, and discover sunspots. His discoveries proved the Copernican systemm which explains that the earth and other planets revolve around the sun. Prior to the Copernican system, it was held that the universe was geocentric meaning the sun revolved around the earth. Galileo contributions to mechanics include the law of falling bodies, the fact that the path of a projectile is a parabola, the demonstration of the laws of equilibrium, and the principle of flotation. He devised a simple thermometer and inspired a pupil, Evangelista Torricelli, to invent the barometer. His great contribution to scientific thinking was the principle of inertia. Before his time everyone followed Aristotle's theory that when an object moved, something had to act continuously to keep it moving. Galileo countered this with the theory that if a body is moving freely, something must happen to stop it or to make it change direction.
 * After Death**

During his last eight years Galileo lived near Florence under house arrest for having “held and taught” Copernican doctrine. He became blind in 1637 but continued to work until his death on Jan. 8, 1642. Nearly 342 years later, Galileio was pardoned by Pope John Paul II and the Roman Catholic church finally accepted his teachings, but Galileo was not there to except it.

& & & " Galileo ." Compton's __by Britannica__. 2009. Encyclopædia Britannica Online School Edition. 22 Sept. 2009 < [|http] :// school .eb.com/all/ comptons / article -9274476>. ||
 * **__Citations__** || **Leonard Everett Fisher. Galileo. New York: Children's publishing Division, 1992.**
 * Albert Van Helden. "Galileo's Telescope." //The Galileo Project. Albert Van Helden, 1995. Web. September 17, 2009.//** ||
 * ^  || **MacLachlan, James. Galileo Galilei First Physicist. New York: Oxford University Press, 1996.**
 * "Galileo Galilei" //Galileo Galilei.//Wikimedia foundation inc., 13 September 2009 at 12:11. Web. September 17, 2009.**