Galileo Galilei
Galileo Galilei (1564-1642), Italian astronomer and physicist. From observing a swinging lamp in Pisa Cathedral he made the discovery that a pendulum swings at a constant rate. He is said to have deduced the laws governing falling bodies by drop-ping objects off the Leaning Tower of Pisa. One of these laws states that all falling bodies descend at the same speed, whatever their size, and this discovery made him unpopular with contemporary scientists. He also improved the telescope and was the first person to use it for astronomical observations. For up-holding the Copernican system against the established Ptolemaic System Galileo was convicted of heresy by Pope Urban VIII. Although Galileo was forced to recant his belief that the earth moved around the sun, he is supposed to have remarked “But it moves for all that”.
