Mathematician:Galileo Galilei
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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.
A member of the informal Académie Parisienne.
Nationality
Italian
History
- Born: 15 Feb 1564 in Pisa (now in Italy)
- 22 June 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)
Theorems
Publications
- 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: Il Saggiatore ("The Assayer")
- 1632: Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems
- 1638: Discorsi e Dimostrazioni Matematiche Intorno a Due Nuove Scienze ("Discourses and Mathematical Demonstrations Relating to Two New Sciences") (in which Galileo's Paradox appears)
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 $\text {1638}$ – $\text {39}$
Sources
- John J. O'Connor and Edmund F. Robertson: "Galileo Galilei": MacTutor History of Mathematics archive
- 1937: Eric Temple Bell: Men of Mathematics ... (previous) ... (next): Chapter $\text{III}$: Gentleman, Soldier and Mathematician
- 1966: Isaac Asimov: Understanding Physics ... (previous) ... (next): $\text {I}$: Motion, Sound and Heat: Chapter $1$: The Search for Knowledge: Flaws in Theory
- 1991: David Wells: Curious and Interesting Geometry ... (previous) ... (next): A Chronological List Of Mathematicians
- 1992: George F. Simmons: Calculus Gems ... (previous) ... (next): Chapter $\text {A}.15$: Torricelli ($\text {1608}$ – $\text {1647}$)
- 1998: David Nelson: The Penguin Dictionary of Mathematics (2nd ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): Galileo Galilei (1564-1642)
- 2008: David Nelson: The Penguin Dictionary of Mathematics (4th ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): Galileo Galilei (1564-1642)
- 2008: Ian Stewart: Taming the Infinite ... (previous) ... (next): Chapter $8$: The System of the World: Galileo
- 2014: Christopher Clapham and James Nicholson: The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Mathematics (5th ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): Galileo Galilei (1564-1642)