2020-02-26 Wed

Galileo Galilei, an Italian astronomer, and mathematician was born in 1564 in Pisa, Italy. His scientific work had an enormous impact on the future of science. He has been described as Father of observational astronomy, the Father of modern physics, the father of the scientific method and the father of modern science.

Galileo was the first to adequately describe inertia, the law of falling, and parabolic trajectories which marked the beginning of a fundamental change in the study of motion. Galileo's championing of heliocentrism and Copernicanism was controversial during his lifetime.

He observed the solar system and deduced that the earth orbits the sun. This contradicted Church teachings, and some of the clergies accused Galileo of heresy. Today on 26th February in the year 1616 Galileo was formally banned by the Roman Catholic Church from teaching or defending heliocentric ideas.

The above shown 2000 Italian Lire Banknote pictured Galileo Galilei in front of Pisa Cathedral and the leaning Tower of Pisa. On the backside are a celestial map and Galileo’s telescope at the Arcetri Astrophysical Observatory.

Image Source: http://www-personal.umich.edu