The planet Venus showed changing crescent phases like those of the Moon, but their geometry could only be explained if Venus was moving around the Sun rather than the Earth. Galileo then became interested in optics and astronomy, and in 1609 he built his first telescope and began making observations. Galileo was able to use the length of the shadows to estimate the height of the lunar mountains, showing that they were similar to mountains on Earth. Contrary to the conventional wisdom established by Aristotle, the speed of a heavy object's fall was found to not be proportional to its weight. His championship of the Copernican (Sun-centred) planetary system brought him into serious conflict with the Church, which forced him to make a public recantation and put him under restriction in later life. His contributions to science include the Galilean Invariance and discovery of Isochronism in … This time he was prosecuted, following the usual methods of the Roman Inquisition. But Galileo was also responsible for several other major discoveries in the field of physics and motion. Galileo is the first known person who studied the skies in detail with a telescope. However, Galilei had other plans and studied math instead. Galileo helped prove that the Earth revolved around the sun In 1610, Galileo published his new findings in the book Sidereus Nuncius, or Starry Messenger, which … His middle finger is on display in a museum. Galileo Galilei, though famous for his scientific achievements in astronomy, mathematics, and physics, and infamous for his controversy with the church was, in … Galileo eventually became one of the most important astronomers of the Renaissance because of his special interest in mathematics. Before he left Padua he had discovered the puzzling appearance of Saturn, later to be shown as caused by a ring surrounding it, and in Florence he discovered that Venus goes through phases just as the Moon does. he first saw themoons of Jupiter and the mountains on the Moon; he determined theparabolic path of projectiles and calculated the law of free fall onthe basis of experiment. Galileo Galilei is credited with discovering four of Jupiter's moons. This law states that all objects will fall at an equal rate, when accounting for relatively minor differences in aerodynamics and weather conditions. His discoveries laid the foundation for modern physics and astronomy. His telescope allowed him to see with a magnification of eight or nine times, making it possible to see that the Moon had mountains and that Jupiter had satellites. We use cookies to ensure you have the best browsing experience and to help us improve our website. If Galileo were around today, he would surely be amazed at NASA's exploration of our solar system and beyond. The Moon’s surface was not smooth and perfect as received wisdom had claimed but rough, with mountains and craters whose shadows changed with the position of the Sun. He made this and many other discoveries in 1610 after building his first telescope. The stars of the Milky Way. For him it wasn’t enough that people in authority had been saying that something was true for centuries, he wanted to test these ideas and compare them to the evidence. Galileo worked extensively with weights to counter and disprove Aristotle's theory about weight. Galileo was an Italian scientist and scholar whose inventions included the telescope. One man decided to bring the heavens closer just by looking through his telescope. This content is accurate and true to the best of the author’s knowledge and is not meant to substitute for formal and individualized advice from a qualified professional. 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