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Galileo Galilei      

1564-1642

 

Major Contribution: Considered the father of science for his extensive work.

 

Galileo was an Italian natural philosopher, astronomer, and mathematician who made fundamental contributions to the sciences of motion, astronomy, strength of materials, and to the development of the scientific method.

 

His formulation of circular inertia, the law of falling bodies, and parabolic trajectories marked the beginning of a fundamental change in the study of motion. His works addressed the concept of relativity.

 

His insistence that the book of nature was written in the language of mathematics changed natural philosophy from a verbal, qualitative account to a mathematical one in which experimentation became a recognized method for discovering the facts of nature.

 

His discoveries with the telescope revolutionized astronomy and paved the way for the acceptance of the Copernican heliocentric system, but his advocacy of that system eventually resulted in an Inquisition process against him.

Galileo also worked in applied science and technology, improving compass design. He was mentioned by Newton as one of the giants upon whose shoulders he (Newton) stood.