Galileo Galilei

Galileo Galilei

My hero is very important to me and to the course of history. He has changed the world with one of the most important inventions of all time. He invented a device so ahead-of-its-time that his idea is used in most science labs today. Galileo was the creator of the telescope.

Galileo Galilei was an Italian astronomer who wanted to see more of the night sky above him. He was the first man to see stars and planets that looked much closer than they actually were. The telescope could see how the planets moved so they were much easier to chart. This supported previous astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus’ theory that the planets moved around the sun instead of the earth. The earth wasn’t the center of the universe anymore!

When he lived from 1564 to 1642, the Catholic Church was the boss. Everything anyone did had to be approved by the church. At this time one of Galileo’s enemies managed to convince the church that Galileo’s discoveries went against the teachings of the church. He was arrested and would not see the light of day again.

While he was in jail, one of his friends gave him paper and he wrote a book about his findings. He knew it would help generations to come. His friends published and distributed his book although it was against the laws. More and more people realized the importance of his discoveries and even built on his discoveries.

To this day, we remember that Galileo Galilei invented and used an amazing telescope. Although nobody had seen anything else like it, Galileo had changed the minds of the people of his generation and many more to come. He had no idea how much it would effect the world.