5852 Sons of Tuscany - Galileo Galilei

Astronomer and mathematician, Galileo Galilei, was born in Pisa on February 15, 1564. Once he was old enough, his parents, Vincenzo Galilei, a music teacher, and Guilia Ammannati, sent Galileo to the Camaldolese Monastery at Vallombrosa, which is located in Florence. Galileo wanted to become a join the Camaldolese Order, but his father was intent on him becoming a doctor.

Vincenzo enrolled Galileo for a medical degree at the University of Pisa, but Galileo decided to become a scientist instead. He eventually became a professor of astronomy at the University of Pisa and was expected to teach the theory that was believed in his time that the sun and all the planets revolved around the earth. Nicolaus Copernicus then introduced Galileo to the opposite theory, the sun-centered or heliocentric theory, which Galileo supported.

Galileo's support of the heliocentric theory got him into trouble with the Catholic Church. He was convicted of heresy, was forced to withdraw his support of Copernicus and was put on house arrest for the rest of his life at his villa in Florence.

Galileo was the first to use a refracting telescope to make his many discoveries like the moons of Jupiter, the phases of Venus and the mountains and craters on the moon. At the age of 46, Galileo nearly lost his eyesight from looking directly at the sun through a telescope. The Vatican officially recognized the validity of Galileo's work in 1992.