Galileo's Astronomy
Mon 02 Nov
|IoA
Galileo di Vincenzo Bonaiuti de' Galilei, has been known as the "father of observational astronomy". He was a phenomenal polymath across the disciplines of physics, astronomy and the scientific method. This month we will explore his life and work
Time & Location
02 Nov 2026, 19:30 – 21:00
IoA, Madingley Rd, Cambridge CB3 0HA, UK
About The Event
Galileo (born February 15, 1564, Pisa [Italy]—died January 8, 1642, Arcetri, near Florence) was an Italian natural philosopher, astronomer, and mathematician who made fundamental contributions to the sciences of motion, astronomy, and strength of materials and to the development of the scientific method. His formulation of (circular) inertia, the law of falling bodies, and parabolic trajectories marked the beginning of a fundamental change in the study of motion. His insistence that the book of nature was written in the language of mathematics changed natural philosophy from a verbal, qualitative account to a mathematical one in which experimentation became a recognized method for discovering the facts of nature. Finally, his discoveries with the telescope revolutionized astronomy and paved the way for the acceptance of the Copernican heliocentric system, but his advocacy of that system eventually resulted in an Inquisition process against him. (extract from encyclopedia Brittanica - online)
This month, our…