Galileo Galilei

Author Code: TGGX

Galileo's initial education was provided by the tutor Jacopo Borghini and at the Camaldolese Monastery at Vallambrosa. In 1581, he began the study of medicine at the University of Pisa, however his interests were in mathematics and natural philosophy and by 1585 he abandoned his medical studies. He taught mathematics in Florence and Siena from 1585 to 1586 and in the latter year published his first scientific work, The Little Balance, describing Archimedes' method of finding the specific gravity of substances. In 1589, he assumed the chair of mathematics at the University of Pisa. Following his father's death in 1592 and in order to increase his income to provide for the family, he became professor of mathematics at the University of Padua, a post he would hold for 18 years. With the appearance of a new star (Kepler's Supernova) in 1604, Galileo came out against traditional Aristotelian beliefs concerning the heavens in lectures at the University. In 1610, he constructed his first telescope and published Starry Messenger in which he claimed the discovery of mountains on the Moon and the moons of Jupiter in addition to other astronomical phenomena. He left Padua and became Chief Mathematician at the University of Pisa. In 1611, he became only the sixth member of the Accademia dei Lincei. In 1612, he published Discourses on Floating Bodies, in which he described sunspots. Galileo supported the Copernican theories of the Universe and this led eventually to his being brought before the Inquisition where he was forbidden to hold these views. In 1623, he published Il Saggiatore (The Assayer) describing his new scientific methods. In 1632, his Dialogues Concerning the Two Chief Systems of the World - Ptolemaic and Copernican was published and was immediately banned by the Inquisition and in 1633 Galileo was tried in Rome and condemned to life in prison for his heresy. His imprisonment was however lenient and he was allowed to reside with various nobles during these years. In 1640, he designed the first pendulum clock. Some of Galileo's other works include On Motion (1590), Treatise on the Sphere (Cosmographia) (1597), Dialogues of Cecco di Ronchitti da Bruzene with regard to the New Star (1605), Siderius Nuncius (1610), Letter to the Grand Duchess Christina - the Authority of Scripture (1614 - but not published until 1638) and his masterpiece, Discourses on Two New Sciences (1638).