Galileo Galilei (1564–1642)
Definition
- (Astronomy) an Italian astronomer who was one of the first people to look at the sky through a telescope
COMMENT He concluded that the Earth moves like other astronomical objects, a conclusion that led him to a showdown with the Church of Rome in which he was forced to retract. He observed Neptune without recognising it as a planet. He also applied mathematical analysis to the movement of bodies in a way which was a precursor to Newton’s work on motion, and was an inventor whose devices ranged from clocks to artillery.