Galileo Galilei
From the Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia that anyone can change
Galileo Galilei (Gal-lee-lay-oh Gal-eel-ay) (February 15, 1564 – January 8, 1642) was an Italian astronomer, (a person who studies outer space) and a famous thinker.
He was the first man to make telescopes so he could look at stars and other planets. He discovered that the Milky Way is made of many tiny stars, that the moon has hills,and found four of Jupiter's moons.
Galileo also discovered the rules of how things fall by dropping two balls off the Leaning Tower of Pisa. These rules are part of physics.
Galileo also tried to determine the speed of light. What he did was: He climbed one hill and had an assistant to climb another hill; both had lanterns with shutters, initially closed. He then opened the shutter of his lantern. His assistant was instructed to open his own shutter upon seeing Galileo's lantern. Galileo then measured the time interval for his assistant's shutter to open. Knowing the time interval and the separation between the hills, he determined the apparent speed of light.
Since Galileo said that the Sun was the center of the universe, not the Earth, the Catholic Church arrested him, and threatened to kill him, unless he explains the Church's view as well in his books. He then wrote a book which was a collection of conversations between three men. The man representing the Church's point of view was a idiot called Simplicio. The Church then decided to kill him unless he changed his mind completely. He said that he changed his mind to avoid dying. The Church forced him to spend the rest of his life trapped in his house.
[change] References
- Drake, Stillman (2001). Galileo, A very short introduction..
- Brodrick, James, S.J. (1965, c1964). Galileo : the man, his work, his misfortunes. London: G. Chapman.
