Galileo Galilei

Galileo Galilei
Portrait of Galileo Galilei by Giusto Sustermans
Born	15 February 1564[1] Pisa,[1] Duchy of Florence, Italy
Died	8 January 1642 (aged 77)[1] Arcetri,[1] Grand Duchy of Tuscany, Italy
Residence	Grand Duchy of Tuscany, Italy
Nationality	Italian (Tuscan)
Fields	Astronomy, Physics andMathematics
Institutions	University of Pisa University of Padua
Alma mater	University of Pisa
Academic advisors	Ostilio Ricci[2]
Notable students	Benedetto Castelli Mario Guiducci Vincenzio Viviani[3]
Known for	Kinematics Dynamics Telescopic observational astronomy Heliocentrism
Signature
Notes His father was the musician Vincenzo Galilei. His mistress was Marina Gamba (1570-August 21, 1612?) was mother of Maria Celeste (Virginia 1600-1634) and Livia (1601-1659) was were nuns and son Vincenzo (1606-1649) a lutenist. Gamba later married Giovanni Bartoluzzi.

Galileo Galilei (Italian pronunciation: [ɡaliˈlɛo ɡaliˈlɛi]; 15 February 1564– 8 January 1642) was an Italian physicist, mathematician, astronomer andphilosopher who played a major role in the Scientific Revolution. His achievements include improvements to the telescope and consequent astronomical observations, and support for Copernicanism. Galileo has been called the "father of modern observational astronomy," the "father of modernphysics," the "father of science," and "the Father of Modern Science."Stephen Hawking says, "Galileo, perhaps more than any other single person, was responsible for the birth of modern science."

The motion of uniformly accelerated objects, taught in nearly all high school and introductory college physics courses, was studied by Galileo as the subject of kinematics. His contributions to observational astronomy include the telescopic confirmation of the phases of Venus, the discovery of the four largest satellites of Jupiter (named the Galilean moons in his honour), and the observation and analysis of sunspots. Galileo also worked in applied science and technology, inventing an improved military compass and other instruments.

Galileo's championing of Copernicanism was controversial within his lifetime, when a large majority of philosophers and astronomers still subscribed to thegeocentric view that the Earth is at the centre of the universe. After 1610, when he began publicly supporting the heliocentric view, which placed the Sun at the centre of the universe, he met with bitter opposition from some philosophers and clerics, and two of the latter eventually denounced him to the Roman Inquisitionearly in 1615. In February 1616, although he had been cleared of any offence, the Catholic Church nevertheless condemned heliocentrism as "false and contrary 

Galileo Galilei. Portrait in crayon by Leoni.to Scripture", and Galileo was warned to abandon his support for it—which he promised to do. When he later defended his views in his most famous work, Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems, published in 1632, he was tried by the Inquisition, found "vehemently suspect of heresy," forced to recant, and spent the rest of his life under house arrest.

Tomb of Galileo Galilei, Santa Croce