In the scientific firmament, Galileo's star shines as brightly as that of
Newton or Einstein. Yet how many of us know much about his life beyond his
interest in the heavens and his troubles with the Church (which Pope John Paul
II officially ended in 1992, 350 years after Galileo's death)? In this
timeline, turn back the clock to the late Italian Renaissance and relive the
dramatic life of one of history's foremost scientific geniuses.
— Lexi Krock
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Galileo Galilei is born in Pisa on February 15. He is the first child of
Vincenzo Galilei of Florence, a music teacher, and Giulia degli Ammannati of
Pescia.
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Galileo studies Greek, Latin, and logic at the Benedictine monastery of Santa
Maria di Vallombrosa and considers becoming a monk until his father expresses
displeasure at the idea.
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Galileo begins his studies in September at the University of Pisa, where he
studies medicine and mathematics. Though he is a diligent medical student,
mostly to satisfy his father's wish that he become a doctor, Galileo prefers
mathematics.
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Galileo, now 21, leaves the University of Pisa without a degree after four
years of study. He spends the next four years giving private lessons in
mathematics in Florence and Siena.
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Galileo takes a teaching position at the University of Pisa. He refuses to wear
the standard academic regalia, a black robe, dismissing the sartorial tradition
as pretentious and cumbersome. University officials repeatedly impose fines on
him for this transgression.
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Galileo's father dies at 70, and Galileo becomes the primary financial provider
for his family, which includes his mother, his married sister Virginia (whose
dowry requires regular payments), his 16-year-old brother Michelangelo, and his
unmarried sister Livia. Three other siblings died during childhood.
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In December, Galileo becomes chair of the mathematics department at the
University of Padua in the Republic of Venice. He gives lectures on geometry
and astronomy in addition to private lessons on Euclid, cosmography, and other
subjects.
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Galileo develops his theory of the tides, asserting that they ebb and flow in
relation to the Earth's diurnal and annual movements. His theory, though
elegantly conceived, is incorrect (see His Big Mistake).
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Galileo invents a geometric and military compass, which has a commercial use as
a pocket calculator. He hires a full-time instrument maker to mass-produce the
compass, publishes a companion manual to the instrument, and gives lessons on
its use.
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Galileo, 36, begins a relationship with 22-year-old Marina Gamba of Venice.
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In August, Galileo and Marina Gamba's first daughter, Virginia, is born out of
wedlock.
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In August, Livia, Galileo and Marina Gamba's second child, is born almost
exactly one year after her sister.
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Galileo conducts experiments with a pendulum on the measurement of time
increments (see His Experiments: Pendulum). He explains his findings in a
letter to Santorio Santorio, a doctor friend in Venice, who then successfully
uses a pendulum to measure his patients' pulses.
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Marina Gamba gives birth to Vincenzio, Galileo's only son, in August.
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In May, Galileo learns of the invention of telescopic lenses in the
Netherlands, which can be used to see objects at a distance. Within a month, he
creates his own three-powered telescope (see His Telescope).
Throughout the summer and fall Galileo continues to work on his telescope and
begins to observe the night sky through it. He presents an eight-powered
telescope to the Senate in Venice and is awarded tenure at the University of
Padua.
From November 30 to December 19, Galileo observes the moon through his
telescope.
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On January 7, Galileo sees three bright stars near Jupiter; six days later he
spies a fourth. Within a week he determines these are Jupiter's satellites.
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In Rome, Jesuit mathematicians at the Collegio Romano certify Galileo's
celestial discoveries, which include Saturn, sunspots, and the satellites of
Jupiter, among other things.
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Galileo publishes Bodies That Stay Atop Water or Move Within It in
Florence.
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Galileo publishes his Sunspot Letters. Virginia and Livia Galilei,
Galileo's daughters, enter the Convent of San Matteo in Arcetri. They both take
the habit within a year.
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Tommaso Caccini, a Dominican friar, delivers a sermon in Florence in which he
denounces as heretics Galileo and others who subscribe to the Copernican view
of the heavens (that the Earth revolves around the sun and not the other way
around). Shortly thereafter, one of Caccini's superiors sends Galileo a written
apology. Later this year, Caccini is deposed by the Roman Inquisition.
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In January, Galileo writes about his theory of the tides, arguing that it
proves the movement of the Earth and the central position of the sun. He
addresses his writing to Cardinal Alessandro Orsini.
Pope Paul V orders Robert Cardinal Bellarmine, the so-called "hammer of the
heretics," to warn Galileo against defending Copernican theory.
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Marina Gamba dies in February. She and Galileo were never married and never
lived under the same roof.
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Galileo's mother dies in September at the age of 82.
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In February, Roman censors give permission for Galileo's book The Assayer
to be printed. The book serves as a retort to Orazio Grassi, a teacher of
mathematics, on the subject of comets, including their weight and composition,
and meditates on the primacy of experimental science over the opinions of the
popular majority.
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Galileo travels to Rome, where he has audiences with Pope Urban VIII and
several cardinals. The Pope grants Galileo permission to address Copernican
theory in his writing on the condition that he only lend it the weight of a
hypothesis.
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Galileo finishes his work in April for Dialogue Concerning Two Chief World
Systems, which includes his treatise on the tides. It is published two
years later.
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Pope Urban VIII suspends distribution of Galileo's Dialogue and appoints
a commission to examine the book. The case is referred to the Inquisition, and
Galileo is summoned from Florence to Rome.
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In April, the Inquisition formally interrogates Galileo, who has been detained
in the building of the Inquisition for several weeks. Galileo agrees to plead
guilty in order to receive a lenient sentence, and on April 30 he confesses
that he advocated Copernican theory too vigorously in the Dialogue. He
agrees to modify his opinions in his next work.
In June, the Pope orders Galileo imprisoned indefinitely under house arrest.
Galileo makes his way back to his villa in Arcetri, near Florence, where he
spends the remainder of his life under house arrest.
Galileo begins work on his Discourse Concerning Two New Sciences.
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Galileo's daughter Virginia, known as Sister Maria Celeste, dies in the Convent
of San Matteo in April.
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Galileo, in failing health for several years, loses his eyesight. He petitions
the Inquisition to be freed for medical reasons. His request is denied but in
March the Inquisition gives Galileo permission to attend religious services on
holidays.
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Discourse Concerning Two New Sciences is published in Holland.
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Galileo conceives of a pendulum-controlled clock.
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Galileo dies in Arcetri on January 8. Isaac Newton is born in England on
December 25.
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