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Galileo Galilei 1564 - 1642 |
Galileo Galilei was born in Pisa, Italy on
February 15, 1564. The eldest of seven children of Vincenzio and Guilia
Galilei. Eight years later his parents moved back to Florence to re-establish
themselves there. Galileo stayed in Pisa with relatives and eventually rejoined
his parents in Florence in 1574. With his father being a musician, he moved in high
circles and there was little money to go around. Galileo was schooled at home
primarily by his father. A tutor was provided only on some occasions. In 1574,
he was sent away for a more formal education at a monastery at Vallombroso about 18
miles east of Florence.
At the age of fifteen, Galileo
joined the order of the monks as a novice. Once his father heard of this, he
immediately pulled the young Galileo away from the monks under the pretext of seeing a
doctor because of an infection. The infection and the doctor were real but Vincenzio
had no intention of taking him back to the monastery. Galileo's studies continued at
home in Florence under the supervision of these same monks from the monastery.
Vincenzio had a strong drive to see his eldest son establish and maintain a respectful and
rewarding career as a physician.
Galileo was enrolled as a medical student in the University
of Pisa in 1581. Once again he stayed with the same family relatives who had watched
him earlier. This was done to keep his living expenses down. He quickly gained
the reputation for being an awkward student, not being afraid to question traditional ideas
of the time. During this time little time was spent for testing or experimentation.
During one particular hail storm, Galileo noticed that hailstones of different sizes
and weights were reaching the ground at the same time. Traditional thought of the time
was that the heavier the object, the faster it would travel to the ground.
Awards, Honors, and Associations
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