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Galileo Galilei was born in Pisa, in 1564. He devoted himself to mathematics, and from 1589 to 1592, he secured the Mathematics Chair at the University of Pisa. Next, he moved to Padua, and applied himself to mechanics, hydrostatics and magnetism.
In the Starry Messenger (1610), Galileo reported the amazing astronomical discoveries he made with the telescope in the years 1609-1610. This booklet granted him the patronage of the Grand Duke of Tuscany, Cosimo II de' Medici (1590-1621). New astronomical discoveries performed (until 1613), made Galileo realise that the Copernican system of the World was the true one. But statements he made on this system were suspected to be heretical, and in 1616 Cardinal Roberto Bellarmino (1542-1621) warned Galileo to avoid any public defence of Copernicus' doctrine.
In 1632, Galileo thought the time had come to print a Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems. However, the Copernican content and the polemic character of the book caused strong ecclesiastical indignation. Galileo was arraigned by the Inquisition and, in 1633, was condemned to life-long house arrest. He spent his last years producing the foundations of mechanics, and died in Arcetri, January 8, 1642.
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Galileo Galilei (1564-1642), Gioviana Collection, Uffizi Gallery, Florence; c. 1630; copia XIX sec.
[IMSS: inv. 3571-18]