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Galileo Galilei
(1564-1642)
Galileo's inventions were a scientific miracle in his time, and since then they have been of incredible importance for astronomical knowledge and space exploration.
Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) Galileo Galilei was born in 1564 in the Italian city of Pisa, famous for its inclined tower, and was brought up in one of the main monasteries of the city.
In his youth, he wanted to devote his life to church service, but his parents, Vincenzo Galilei (a music teacher) and Julia Ammannati, had other plans for their son.
They wanted Galileo to become a doctor.
But while studying at the university, Galileo realized that his heart belongs to mathematics.
So the young Galileo did not choose the path of medicine, but became a professor of mathematics at the University of Padua and Pisa. .
As a professor, Galileo challenged traditional views in astronomy.
Before him, the theories of Aristotle were taken as the fundamental laws of physics.
Galileo refuted Aristotle's belief that objects with higher density fall faster than objects with less weight when he stood at the top of the Leaning Tower of Pisa and found that the reason that one object falls faster than another was due to the friction that occurs when an object moves through the air — because in reality two objects with different masses fall at the same speed in a vacuum.
Galileo also challenged Aristotle's claim that the universe is geocentric, which meant that the Sun revolves around the Earth.
He confirmed the heliocentric view — the opposite statement of Nicholas Copernicus that the Earth and all the other planets actually revolve around the Sun.
Galileo's ingenious invention of the telescope in 1610 made it possible to confirm the theory of Copernicus.
His telescope was modeled on the type of telescope that brought objects closer at a great distance.
The Galileo model was more perfect and could magnify objects by 20 times compared to the others, which were brought closer by 3 times.
With the help of his telescope, Galileo could view the moon and make great astronomical discoveries and research.
Also with this telescope, he discovered 4 satellites of Jupiter and confirmed the phases of Venus.
Galileo's firm adherence to the Copernican system aroused the anger of the Roman Catholic Church.
A number of biblical passages differed from the opinion about the heliocentricity of the Universe.
Although Pope Urban VIII, who headed the Church at that time, admired Galileo, after the publication of his book "Dialogue about the Two most Important Systems of the World", the Inquisition court took place, recognizing the scientist as a heretic.
The pope had previously warned Galileo that he could include the Copernican theory in his work if it was based only on a mathematical principle.
But, as it turned out, this was not the case, and in 1633 Galileo was put under house arrest at his villa in Archertry near Florence.
He was not deprived of his freedom because of his advanced age and poor health.
Later, he became blind and was forced to lead a stationary lifestyle.
He died at his villa in 1642.
Galileo went down in history as a man who made an incredible contribution to world science.
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