Page 116 - 100 Events That Made History

Man of many talents In Galileo’s time,
Italian scientist GALILEO GALILEI most people didn’t
understand that the
(1564–1642) was brilliant in many
sun is the center of
ways. His father wanted him to
the solar system.
study medicine, but he became a
math professor instead, and also
taught physics. He was fascinated
by astronomy. When a simple
telescope, called a spyglass, was
invented in 1608, he challenged
himself to build a better one that The four moons of
saw are now called
would let him scan the heavens. Jupiter that Galileo
the Galilean moons.

The rings of
By the way…
I was one of the few who time by Galileo.
Saturn were seen
believed the sun, not the
for the first
Earth, was at the center of
the solar system. This got
me in big trouble with
the Church.

Looking into space
By 1609, Galileo had designed and built
a telescope that could magnify things
many times more than any previous
instrument. It was powerful enough to
reveal unimagined astronomical details,
such as the MOUNTAINS OF THE
MOON and the four largest of the
moons orbiting the planet Jupiter.
Galileo has Galileo even saw the rings of Saturn
been called through his telescope, although he didn’t
the “Father of have a clue as to what these might be.
Modern Science.”

Galileo’s How it changed

Galileo’s invention
led to the modern
telescope so much about our
telescopes that have
allowed us to learn
the world
The telescope that allowed place in space.
us to peer into SPACE

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