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Galileo Galilei (1564-1642)

Italian physicist, mathematician, astronomer, and philosopher. Established foundations of experimental method in natural sciences and also, thanks to his invention of a telescope, foundations of contemporary astronomy.

His achievements include, among others:

1581:

Discovered the laws of pendulum motion (isochronism).

1609:

Built the first telescope (with 30x power, using a lens system known since then as "Galilean telescope") which he applied to astronomical observations.

1611:

Published descriptions of his astronomical observations in "Sidereus Nuncius" ("The Starry Messenger"), namely:

• craters on the Moon ;
• sunspots, which he used to deduce rotation of the Sun around its axis and to calculate the period of the rotation;
• four largest satellites of Jupiter (called till now the "Galilean satellites").

1613:

Observed the phases of Venus , then one of the most important proofs of the correctness of the Copernicus heliocentric system.

1632:

Published his main work "Dialogo sopra i due massimi sistemi del mondo tolemaico e copernicano" ("Dialogue on the two chief world systems: Ptolemaic and Copernican"), in which he presented basic results of his studies of mechanics (for example, the law of free fall) and an extensive justification of the heliocentric theory of Copernicus.

Named after Galileo were:

• a small crater (15 km diameter) on the near side of the Moon ,
• a large crater on Mars ) (124 km diameter),
• the four largest moons of Jupiter: Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto, called collectively the "Galilean satellites",
• a large dark region Galileo Regio on Ganymede, one of the Galilean satellites of Jupiter,
• an asteroid 697 Galilea,
• the Galileo space probe, studying the Jovian system.

[ZK]

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