PHYSICS 1010

SCIENTIST PAPER

PHOTOCREDIT: Rael Ruiz

Hannah Hawthorne
Spring 2016

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PHYSICS REPORT
SCIENTIST PAPER
GALILEO GALILEI
Galileo Galilei was born on February 15, 1564 to Guilia degli Ammannati and Vincenzio
Galilei in the Arno Valley of Italy, just outside of the famous city of Pisa. Galileos ancestry
boasted a strong heritage, one of his ancestors was doctor Galileo Buonaiuti. Although the
Galileis were not rich, they were well respected within the community.

PHOTOCREDIT: Tech and Facts

Galileos childhood was filled with music. His father played the lute, and taught Galileo
to play music. His father held music lessons within his home, and was very intrigued about the
science of music he would study which strings would make sounds. It may be this early
introduction to music that sparked Galileos interest in science.

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When Galileo turned ten years old he moved to Florence to join his mother and father
who had moved there two years earlier. Galileo was Guilias first child, however she later gave
birth to one additional son and four daughters. Unfortunately three of these children died young,
a sad fate for many during those times.
When Galileo was thirteen years old, after being taught mostly by a private tutor, he was
sent away to schooling at the monastery school of Vallombrosa. While there Galileo had
aspirations of becoming a monk, his father disapproved of the idea because of the lack of money
that came with becoming a clergy member. After that Galileos father removed him from the
monastery. He was then sent to another school also ran by monks, however this time he was
strongly discouraged to entertaining the idea of becoming a monk.
When Galileo was seventeen years old he returned to Pisa to study at the university.
Under his fathers persuasion Galileo studied medicine. There Galileo questioned the old
fashioned theories on the human body and diseases, that were not based on science. However
medicine was not what captured Galileos interest, instead his was captivated by mathematics.
One professor, Ostilio Ricci, took note of Galileos mathematic talents and went to the Galilei
home in 1583 to persuade Galileos father to let Galileo to pursue mathematics instead of
medicine. Vincenzio Galilei was persistent that his son should continue pursuing medicine. It
was Vincenzios loss because in 1585 when Galileo left the University he had not completed his
degree in medicine.
Galileo was very passionate about mathematics. He said Philosophy is written in this
grand book the universe, who stands continually open to our gaze. But the book cannot be

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understood unless one first learns to comprehend the language and read the alphabet in which it
is composed. It is written in the language of mathematics
Three years after leaving the University Galileo returned home to his family in Florence.
In 1589 Galileo took a job as a professor of mathematics at the University of Pisa. Two years
later Galileos father died at the age of seventy-one. Galileos role had suddenly shifted, as the
eldest son he was responsible for the Galilei family, and this was a time where Galileo had to
focus on the future. In 1592 he received a better paying job at the university for the Republic of
venice. It was here that Galileo came up with many of his new ideas.
Galileo is perhaps most famous for challenging, famous Greek thinker, Aristotles claim
that heavier objects fell quicker than lighter objects of similar size. Galileo conducted his own
experiment to determine whether Aristotle was correct in his thinking, or if objects fell to the
ground at the same speed. Galileo used two cannonballs and dropped them off the Leaning
Tower of Pisa. His conclusion being that indeed objects do hit the ground at the same speed.
This was the beginnings of the scientific method, which had never been an established strategy
before. He established science as a mechanical agent, and pegged invariability in cause and
effect. His other famous discoveries also involve the concept of motion. He had a fascination
with pendulums which led to the later development of clocks.
Galileo also had some geometric discoveries as well. In 1597 Galileo invented the
geometric in military compass, which was of course to assist with the military effort. This
became especially useful when military devices, such as the cannon, became mobile. The
invention of the compass for Galileo became very profitable. He had such high demands for this

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instrument that he hired an instrument maker to assist him with his efforts, and later had to create
an instruction manual for students as a published booklet.
Although they never married Galileo did have three children with Marina Gamba, who
was fourteen years his junior. They lived separately, while Galileo stayed in his professors
house on the Borgo del Vignali, Marina resided in Ponte Corvo. They were said to be very
happy in each others company, despite the fact that Galileos mother disapproved of Marina.
Marina later married Giovanni Baroluzzi, who provided glass for Galileos future creations.
In 1609 Galileo used the framework set by the early inventors of lenses, mostly used for
magnifying glasses, to create his own version of the telescope. Galileo heard about Hans
Lippersheys invention of the telescope and was anxious to create one of his own. The
government in Venice, where Galileo was residing at the time, rewarded Galileo for this creation,
thinking that his invention would be very useful for soldiers and sailors. Galileo, however, was
most excited to be using his telescope to study the stars.
Galileo was very intrigued with what resided in space. Using his telescopes he observed
the planet Jupiter, and discovered four of its moons which he named Medicean Stars. Galileo
saw the Milky Way, and recognized it was made of thousands of individual stars. He observed
the bulging shape of Saturn, but his telescope was not advanced enough to recognize that for
rings. In 1610 Galileo was promoted to Chief Mathematician and Philosopher to the new Grand
Duke of Tuscany, and the Chief Mathematician to the University of Pisa.
When Galileo moved Tuscany he observed the planet Venus. He recorded the planets
phases, and observed that it must be traveling around the sun. This assisted the theories of
Copernicus who concluded that if Venus rotated around the sun, then Earth might also be.

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Galileo also noticed dark marks of cooler areas that appeared and disappeared on the face of the
sun, today we have learned that these marks are from the magnetic forces.
Noel M. Swerdlow said of Galileo that In about two months, December and January, he
[Galileo] made more discoveries that changed the world than anyone has ever made before or
since. Galileo has been nicknamed the Father of Modern Science because of his countless
contributions to the scientific world as we know it. Swerdlow said it best that his contributions
are invaluable, in regards to how much foundation they have set for future discoveries.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY
Christensen, B. (2012). I, Galileo. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.
Hilliam, R. (2005). Galileo Galilei: Father of modern science.
New York: Rosen Pub. Group.
Steele, P. (2005). Galileo: The genius who faced the Inquisition.
Washington, D.C.: National Geographic.

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