By: Anne Reed

Birth and Death Galileo was born on February 15, 1564 in Pisa, Duchy of Florence, Italy. He was 77 when he died on January 8, 1642 in Arcetri, Grand Duchy of Tuscany, Italy.

Childhood and Education Galileo was the eldest in a family of 7 children so he always struggled for attention. He was born to Vincenzo Galilei (a famous musician, composer and musical theorist) and Giulia Ammannati. Galileo’s full name was Galileo di Vincenzo Bonaiuti de' Galilei. When he turned 8 his family moved to Florence. He stayed with Jacopo Borghini for two years and studied in Camaldolese Monastery at Vallombrosa which was situated 35 km away from Florence. Since childhood Galileo was very much interested in becoming a priest. In spite of this he enrolled himself in the University of Pisa for acquiring a medical degree. Galileo’s father wanted his son to pursue science. Galileo left studying his medical degree and never completed it. Instead, he took up mathematics. Galileo had immense interest in fine art too. In 1588 he was chosen as the art instructor at the Accademia delle Arti del Disegno situated in Florence. Galileo indulged himself in teaching various perspectives of art and a very different art form, chiaroscuro (a monochromatic picture made out of using different color shades giving out a bold contrast in the whole composition). During his role as a teacher at Accademia, Galileo befriended Florentine painter Cigoli. This friendship continued for life. Cigoli had once used one of Galileo’s observations on moon in his painting. Galileo was driven by Renaissance art. He also got attached to the city art. All these influences led to an aesthetic mentality in Galileo.

Family Galilei Family Tree Vincenzo GalileiVirginiaGalileoMarina Gamba Livia (Sister Arcangela) Virginia (Sister Maria Celeste) VincenzoMichelangelo Giulia Ammannati Livia Sister of Galileo (name lost in history) Sister of Galileo (name lost in history) Brother of Galileo (name lost in history) Had a relationship with Their kids are

Major Events in History during Galileo’s Life The Late Renaissance Period Galileo Galilei was born at Pisa, Italy, on February In mathematics, Simon Stevin proposes the use of decimals Giordano Bruno, an early Copernican, argued the side of an infinite universe and a plurality of worlds Galileo Galilei demonstrates that a projectile follows a parabolic path The telescope is invented in the Netherlands Galileo constructs his first telescope and turns it toward the heavens. His instruments begin at magnifications of 3X and 10X, the most powerful achieving a magnification of 30X, an instrument he eventually gave away as a gift In his highly influential Sidereal Messenger, Galileo Galilei publishes his telescopic findings with subtle Copernican twists. Among his observations, Galileo argues there are innumerable stars invisible to the naked eye, mountains on the Moon, and four moons circling Jupiter. Galileo also observed the phases of Venus. Further, Galileo noted that Saturn appeared to have 'handles' and troubled over what could give rise to such an appearance Galileo is warned by the Inquisition not to hold or defend the hypothesis asserted in Copernicus' On the Revolutions, though it has been debated whether he was admonished not to 'teach in any way' the heliocentric theory. This work was in turn placed on the Index of Prohibited Books until corrected A famous 'controversy on comets' erupted in this year involving Galileo and Jesuit astronomers Apologia pro Galileo was published writing in support of Galileo's Copernicanism and providing supporting arguments for the relationship between science and religion plus more Galileo publishes his strategic essay, The Assayer where he argues against Aristotle and the Scholastics in favor of mathematical and experimental methods, moving deftly across many topics, from statics and dynamics to his theory of matter In one of the major publications of the century, Galileo's Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems, Ptolemaic and Copernican argues for a Copernican system. He uses every tactic available to him, drawing on his telescopic findings, his new view of motion, and not a little rhetorical skill Galileo is called before the Inquisition in Rome. He is vehemently suspected of heresy for supporting and teaching the Copernicanism hypothesis. Afterwards, Galileo was placed under house arrest for the remainder of his life. His visitors, his mail, and his daily actions were monitored Galileo's second major book, the Discours on Two New Sciences, was published outside of Italy in Protestant Leiden. The work drew together much of Galileo's earlier efforts on the problem of motion; the second 'new science' (where Galileo, in retrospect, was less successful) dealt with the strength of materials. The Englishman John Wilkins published his Discovery of a World in the Moon, a curious work that drew together many of the findings of Kepler and Galileo into an imaginative landscape. Aimed at what might be called the general reader, Wilkin's book lays claim to one of the earliest writings in 'science fiction' The first observation of a transit of Venus across the Sun, a rare phenomenon used in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries for determining the distance of the earth from the Sun, is made by the brilliant but short-lived Jeremiah Horrocks Galileo Galilei dies at 77 years old.

Accomplishments Galileo is remembered for discovering the laws of falling bodies and motions of projectiles. He is also known for pioneering telescopic observation and, through this, discovering sunspots, the irregular surface of the Moon, four of Jupiter’s moons, and the phases of Venus. However, Galileo did NOT invent the telescope. He just used what he knew to make stellar improvements in preexisting telescopic technology.