Galileo Galilei
Nick Mangiafico
Period 6
Life
•  Born: February 15, 1564 in Pisa
•  Died: January 8, 1642 in Acetri,
Florence, Italy
•  Taught by only notable science and
math teacher in Pisa: Francisco
Buonamico
▫  Taught at University of Pisa
•  Published two pieces of work: The
Little Balance & The Operations of
the Geometrical and Military
Compass
•  Declared he supported Copernicus’
theory of heliocentric solar system
Church vs Galileo
•  The church claimed Galileo was a heretic
•  Galileo wanted to tell the truth about the universe and physics
•  The church told him to not "hold, teach, and defend in any
manner whatsoever, in words or in print“
▫  Agreed to avoid problems
•  Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems
▫  Contains criticism of the supposed perfection of the universe as
claimed by Aristotle
•  Called back to Rome to appear before Church leaders
• 
Family
•  Father: Vincenzo Galilei – Merchant & musician
•  Mother: Giulia Ammannati
•  3 children
▫  1600 – Maria Celeste
▫  1601 – Livia
▫  1606 – Vincenzo
•  Not married but only one mother of all children Marina Gamba
•  Supported siblings and mother when father died
▫  Got job at University of Padua
Accomplishments
•  09/06/1608 – creates first hydrostatic pump
•  01/15/1610 – discovered four satellites around
Jupiter
•  12/30/1610 - Verifies that Venus goes through
phases like the moon
•  Disproved Aristotle’s theory that heavier objects
(made of Earth) fall faster than lighter objects (made
of air)
▫  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z789eth4lFU
•  The Starry Messenger – told of findings about
universe that supported Copernicus and went
against church
Inventions
•  Slide Rule
•  Microscope
•  Thermometer
•  Tube Telescope
Galileo’s Telescope
•  37mm diameter planoconvex objective lens with a
focal length of 980mm
•  Original Eyepiece: planoconcave with a diameter of
about 22mm and a focal
length of about 50 mm
•  Light Gathering Area =
1075 mm2
•  Light Gathering Power =
54.8
•  Magnification = 19.6 times
The Telescope
•  His first telescope could magnify objects 3x their
size
▫  Second model could magnify 20x
•  He was able to study much of the solar system
with this new telescope
▫  Discovered four of Jupiter’s moons
▫  Studied a supernova
▫  Verified phases of Venus
Modern Use of the Telescope
•  Used to study space
today
•  Helped measure
speed of light for the
first time
•  Help understand
gravity and other
laws of physics
•  Search for Earth-like
planets
European Extremely Large Telescope
•  largest in world
•  138 feet long
•  Used to study the beginning of the universe,
dark matter, dark energy and black holes
•  Searches for Earth-like planets
•  Studies the early universe
Gliese 581 Planetary System
•  Red dwarf star
•  20.3 light
years from
Earth
•  At least 6
planets
•  Gliese 581g –
first Earth-like
planet found
in system
Sources
•  Gliese Planetary System. Digital image. Rawful News. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Sept. 2012.
<http://rawfulnews.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/gliese-581g.jpg>.
•  Andromeda Galaxy. Digital image. NASA. NASA, n.d. Web. 11 Sept. 2012. <http://
apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/9911/m31_ware_big.jpg>.
•  E-ELT. Digital image. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Sept. 2012. <http://
johannes_stuebler.public1.linz.at/ELT/e-elt-and-vlt-vs-statue-of-liberty.jpg>.
•  Digital image. Wikipedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Sept. 2012. <http://upload.wikimedia.org/
wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d4/Justus_Sustermans__Portrait_of_Galileo_Galilei,_1636.jpg/220px-Justus_Sustermans__Portrait_of_Galileo_Galilei,_1636.jpg>.
•  Galileo's Original Telescope. Digital image. Galileo's Telescopes. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Sept.
2012. <http://www.scitechantiques.com/Galileo_telescope/AAAAgalileo_telescope.jpg>.
•  Drake, Stillman, Leonard E. Fisher, Paul W. Hightower, Pietro Redondi, and James Reston.
"World Biography." Galileo Biography. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Sept. 2012. <http://
www.notablebiographies.com/Fi-Gi/Galileo.html>.
Sources
•  "Telescope Plans at Telescope1609.com." Telescope Plans at
Telescope1609.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Sept. 2012. <http://
www.telescope1609.com/Telescope.htm>.
•  "Have Telescopes Changed Our View of the Universe?" - JPL Education.
NASA, 5 Apr. 2010. Web. 10 Sept. 2012. <
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/education/index.cfm?page=145>
•  Van Helden, Al. "The Galileo Project | Chronology | Galileo Timeline." The
Galileo Project | Chronology | Galileo Timeline. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Sept.
2012. <http://galileo.rice.edu/chron/galileo.html>.
•  "ESO - The European Extremely Large Telescope." ESO - The European
Extremely Large Telescope. European Southern Observatory, n.d. Web. 07
Sept. 2012. <http://www.eso.org/public/teles-instr/e-elt.html>.
•  "The Galileo Project | Biography | Telescope." The Galileo Project |
Biography | Telescope. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Sept. 2012. <http://
galileo.rice.edu/bio/narrative_6.html>.
•  Dié, Lucas. "Galileo Galilei: Inventions." Scienceray. N.p., n.d. Web. 07
Sept. 2012. <http://scienceray.com/astronomy/galileo-galilei-inventions/
>.