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| Galileo Galilei |
| (15/2/1564 - 8/1/1642) |
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| Mathematician, physicist and astronomer |
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His astronomical discoveries made Galileo Galilei one of the most important early advocates of the Copernican doctrine. His contributions to mechanics helped lay the foundations for what would later become classic physics. His “Dialog on the Ptolemaic and Copernican systems” (1632) was placed on the Index of the Church. After renouncing the heliocentric conception of the world, Galilei spent the rest of his life under house arrest.
During this period he wrote probably his most important work: “Discourses and mathematical demonstrations on two new branches of science concerning mechanics and the laws of falling bodies” (1634). He lived to see the publication of the first edition of this work, the manuscript of which had been smuggled to Holland. Galilei’s condemnation placed a heavy burden on the relationship between the natural sciences and the churches for a very long time. Galileo Galilei was not officially rehabilitated until 1992.
The type of telescope named after Galilei had a very small field of view and was awkward to handle; Johannes Kepler built an improved version in 1611. Mounted in eyeglasses, miniature, modified telescopes – “Galilean and Kepler systems” – are used as Telescopic eyeglasses.
| We would like to extend our gratitude to the Istituto e Museo di Storia della Scienza, Florence, Italy for kindly providing us with the pictures shown here. This text is based on the “Biographie Galileo Galilei“ of the Spektrum Akademischer Verlag and the internet article on the exhibition “Galileo Galilei“ of the Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule in Zurich, Switzerland |
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