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= Galileo Galilei =

Galileo Galilei was a famous scientist, astronomer, mathematician, and physicist. He was born in Pisa, Italy on February 15th, 1564. He was the oldest of seven children of. Galileo Galilei went to the University of Pisa at 17 to study medicine, like his father always wanted him to. But Galileo was more interested in science, more specifically in astronomy. At 21 he became a math teacher for rich children at the University of Pisa, then later in the University of Padua. He is famous for being outspoken, having his own opinions, and discovering many things about science. He discovered that pendulums swing at the same speed and it didn't matter how heavy the bob was or how long the string was. This lead to the invention of pendulum clocks, which was easier to tell time with rather than your pulse or the sun and moon. Another discovery Galileo Galilei made was that all objects fall at the same speed. He was arguing this against Aristotle, a high positioned Greek philosopher supported by the Roman Church. This was called heresy, back then a serious offense against church or society. But he disproved Aristotle, who had done no experimenting whatsoever, by climbing to the top of The Leaning Tower of Pisa and dropping two cannonballs of different weights, cannonballs of which landed on the ground at about the same time. He made many other discoveries that shaped science and astronomy as we know it today. This got him in many conflicts with Aristotle, the one with the most believed theories of their time, and the Church. He sacrificed the security of life for the truth. Galileo Galilei died on January 8, 1642 at the age of 77.

= Moon Observations: the moon has craters =

Galileo was the first to discover the craters on the moon. Not only did he realize the moons had craters, but he also noticed that they casted shadows! This was great because it supported Copernicus' theory of the Sun being the center of the solar system, rather than the Earth. This disproved Aristotle's ideas because in order for the moon to have different shadows during the day and night, it would've been rotating around the Earth, which would've been rotating around the Sun. So this meant that the Moon didn't rotate around the Earth, like Aristotle had said. = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =Jupiter and its Moons=



When Galileo looked through his telescope and spotted Jupiter and its moons on, he discovered something amazing about them... that they rotated Jupiter! This proved Aristotle wrong once again because it meant that things could rotate planets, which meant the Moon could rotate Earth and that makes Earth a normal planet. Galileo named the moons after his boss, Grand Duke Cosimo II. = = = = = = =Saturn's Rings=

Galileo also discovered that the objects near Saturn were not planets or moons, they were actually the rings of Saturn. These rings are caught in Saturn's gravity and formed from years of rotating the planet. He also discovered that it was not only one ring, but many little rings of rocks, dust and ice. = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

= = =                        = = = = = =Sunspots on the Sun=



Whilst observing the Sun on his telescope, Galileo made this next great discovery: that the Sun had spots. It may seem like a small, insignificant fact nowadays, but it was big deal back then because Aristotle had stated that the universe was perfect. But the Sun had spots, which made it imperfect. Galileo also noted that these sun spots were not other planets orbiting the Sun close to its surface like Christopher Schiener had claimed, because they changed shape. = = = = = = = = = = = =

=Venus has Phases=

Lastly, Galileo, being the observant guy he was, also figured out that Venus had phases. This supported Copernicus' theory on the Sun being the center of our solar system because the Sun was in the center and at some point Venus would be in between the Earth and Sun. This would create something similar to a new moon, only with Venus, He, yet again, had proven Aristotle wrong. = =

= = = = = = = = = = = = =Bibliography:=

Information:

http://www.letslearnhistory.com/Lets_Learn_History/Galileo_History.html

http://inventors.about.com/od/gstartinventors/a/Galileo_Galilei.htm

AND SCIENCE CLASS :D

Picture:

http://www.dailyhistory.net/february-13-1633-galileo-in-rome-for-inquisition/