Description
Galileo attended medical school in Padua, but questions about physical phenomena captured his curiosity and through his investigations, he discovered a number of underlying laws of physics governing motion and dynamics that remain at the foundation of modern science. He turned his attention to astronomy in the early 1600s, and with his telescope discovered craters on the moon, sunspots and four moons of Jupiter. His observations of the phases of Venus demonstrated the accuracy of the Copernican model of the solar system. He published a comparison of the Copernican and Ptolemaic systems, which included the disparagement of an argument for the Ptolemaic system favored by the Pope. This caused trouble with the Catholic hierarchy, and Galileo was placed on house arrest and forced to publicly renounce his Copernican theory.
Condition: Generally very good, with the usual overall toning and wear to finish. Minor chips on base, unobtrusive.
References:
“Galileo Galilei Tomb Santa Croce Florence.” Wikimedia Commons. 3 June 2011. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Galileo_galilei_tomb_Santa_Croce_Florence.jpg (23 April 2018).
“Galileo’s Portraits.” Scientific Itineraries in Tuscany. 11 October 2010. https://brunelleschi.imss.fi.it/itineraries/multimedia/GalileosPortraits.html (23 April 2018).
“Portrait of Galileo.” Virtual Uffizi Gallery. 2007-2018. https://www.virtualuffizi.com/portrait-of-galileo.html (23 April 2018).
Weisstein, Eric W. “Galileo Galilei.” Eric Weisstein’s World of Biography. Wolfram Research. http://scienceworld.wolfram.com/biography/Galileo.html (4 October 2004).
