Mathematician:Galileo Galilei

Mathematician
Italian mathematician and scientist usually known as just Galileo.

At the forefront of a revolution in the understanding of physics. One of the most influential thinkers in history.

Nationality
Italian

History

 * Born: 15 Feb 1564 in Pisa (now in Italy)
 * 1633: Condemned for heresy by the Inquisition, sentenced to house arrest
 * 1638 -- 1639: Visited by John Milton
 * Died: 8 Jan 1642 in Arcetri (near Florence) (now in Italy)

Books and Papers

 * 1586: The Little Balance
 * 1590: On Motion
 * c. 1600: Mechanics
 * 1606: The Operation of a Geometrical and Military Compass
 * 1610: The Starry Messenger
 * 1612: Discourse on Floating Bodies
 * 1613: Letters on Sunspots
 * 1615: Letter to the Grand Duchess Christina (published in 1636)
 * 1616: Discourse on the Tides
 * 1619: Discourse on the Comets
 * 1623: The Assayer
 * 1632: Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems
 * 1638: Discourses and Mathematical Demonstrations Relating to Two New Sciences

Notable Quotes

 * The Great Book of Nature is written in mathematical symbols.
 * -- 1623


 * E pur si muove! (And yet it moves!)
 * He supposedly muttered it after having been ordered to recant his philosophical position that the Earth moves round the sun. Whether he truly said it or not is still up for question, but he ought to have done.


 * On wine: Light held together by moisture.

Critical View

 * There it was that I found and visited the famous Galileo, grown old, a prisoner to the Inquisition for thinking in Astronomy otherwise than the Franciscan and Dominican licensers of thought.
 * -- John Milton, after visiting him in 1638 -- 39