Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) — Astronomer and Scientist. Galileo developed a superior telescope and made many significant discoveries in astronomy. He was sentenced to life imprisonment by the inquisition for his support for the Copernican theory that the sun was at the centre of the solar system. Galileo was born in Florence, Italy in 1564 to a poor but noble family His parents recognized their child’s innate intelligence and talents and so made sacrifices to have him educateD. At his father’s insistence, Galileo studied the profitable career of medicinE. But, at the University of Pisa, Galileo became fascinated in a wide range of subjects. He was also critical of many of Aristotle’s teaching which had dominated education for the past 2,000 years. Galileo was appointed to be a mathematics professor at the University of Pisa, but his strident criticisms of Aristotle left him isolated among his contemporaries. After three years of persecution, he resigned and went to the University of Padua, where he taught maths. His entertaining lectures attracted a large following and he was able to spend the next 18 years pursuing his interests in astronomy and mechanics.
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