Galilieo Galilei (1564-1642) was born in Italy. He was the son of a mathematician, but his father encouraged him to pursue the more lucrative profession of medicine. As a youth he was highly inquisitive about things around him. Then, he heard a lecture on geometry. He persuaded his father to let him study math and science. He began to measure, and reduce things to quantity to determine if a mathematical explanation of various phenomena existed. He made many discoveries. He discovered that a pendulem swings with the same time regardless of amplitude, and devised an early version of a thermometer. He is best known for his contributions to astronomy. He believed in the Copernican system, which stated that the sun was the center of the universe which the planets and stars revolved around. In 1609 he devised a telescope that could magnify 32X. He made observations that backed that Copernican system. These ideas were new to people and many attacked Galileo for what they thought to be blasphemous. In 1616 Cardinal Bellarmine summoned him to Rome and forced to be silent, under the order of the Pope Pius V. they ordered the views of Copernicus forbidden. After he published his Dialogue Concerning Two World Systems, he was tried on charges of heresy. In 1633, he condemned to house arrest for endorsing Copernicus's ideas in his latest book. He remained out of public eyes until his death, making more discoveries and observations which he was forced to keep to himself.Context:During Galileo's time, the popular view was that earth was at the center of the universe. Tyco Brahe (1546-1601) had a popular theory that the earth was at the center and the other planets revolved around the sun, which also revolved around the earth. People also believed that any contradiction to this was blasphemous since the bible had said that the heavens move around the earth. The people interpreted scriptures literally, and took great offense to them being opposed. Pe...
