Mathematicians

Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) | A Particle in Motion...Galileo's Life | The Parabolic Path...A Modern View
The Parabolic Path...Galileo's View | References | Back to the front page


Galileo Galilei (1564-1642)
Vincent W. Lau

There are some things we all take for granted as the truth. For instance, we all agree that the moon revolves around the Earth, and that the Earth revolves around the sun. However, during the time of Galileo Galilei, these facts we wholeheartedly accept as the truth were still in their infancy. They were at the center of a much heated debate between traditionalists and non-traditionalists who contested the biblical notion of the Earth being the center of the universe.

Galileo is most well known for his fight against the Church in favor of the Copernican view of Earth's place in the universe. How Galileo came to accept such a radical view as the truth most likely came from his studies in physics. Galileo reexamined the laws of motion and helped to kickstart modern physics as we know it today.