Galileo Galilei

Who Was Galileo?

Galileo Galilei was an Italian astronomer and physicist. He was also an engineer and a polymath. A polymath is someone who works in many different fields. People often call him just Galileo.

Where He Grew Up

Galileo was born in Pisa, which was then part of the Duchy of Florence. He was the first of six children. His father, Vincenzo Galilei, was a musician who played the lute and wrote music. Galileo became a good lute player too.

Looking at the Sky

Galileo built a better telescope, which became known as the Galilean telescope. With it, he looked at the Milky Way and the Moon. He also found four big moons that travel around Jupiter. Today, these are called the Galilean moons.

Galileo believed that the Earth and the other planets travel around the Sun. This idea was supported by Copernicus. Some people did not agree with him, but Galileo kept learning and looking at the sky.

Remembered Today

Many people call Galileo the father of modern science. Albert Einstein also said this about him. A spacecraft called the Galileo spacecraft was named after him. In 2009, the United Nations named a year the International Year of Astronomy to celebrate Galileo's first telescope discoveries.