Biography
Galileo was born on February 15th, 1564 in Pisa, Italy. Parents were Vincenzo Galilei and Guilia Ammannati. Vincenzo, who was born in Florence in 1520, was a teacher of music and a fine lute player. After studying music in Venice he carried out experiments on strings to support his musical theories. Guilia, who was born in Pescia, married Vincenzo in 1563 and they made their home in the countryside near Pisa. Galileo was their first child and spent his early years with his family in Pisa.Galileo loved to invent. As a child he would run around the house gathering useless items and putting them together to make a new tool. As a 10 year old boy he attended school at Vallembrosa. He got exceptional grades so his father Vincenzio Galilei decided Galileo should become a doctor.Galileo did not want to do this, but did as he was told. In 1581, Galileo entered the University of Pisa. However, his study of medicine was not interesting to him, and his grades were not good. He began to study mathematics instead. Like his father, Galileo liked mathematics, and preferred it to medicine.
During his first year at the university, Galileo made his first important discovery. He discovered the law of the pendulum. The law states that no matter the length of the string is, the time of the swing will be the same. With his new discovery Galileo invented the pulsilogia, which measures someones pulse. Because of Galileo's low grades, his father pulled him out of the university in 1585.
Shortly after leaving the university, Galileo invented the hydrostatic balance. This invention could weigh objects in water and their density could be figured out. Galileo wrote a paper about this scale in 1586. The Marchese Guidobaldo del Monte became interested in Galileo's studies, and soon the two became friends. The Marchese were very wealthy and gave Galileo a great amount of money to fund his experiments.
By now, Galileo began to look for a job. The University of Bologna had a mathematics professor position open, but Galileo was not hired. At his old university, there was a position open, and Galileo was hired. Galileo's job unfortunately lasted for only two years, and again he had to look for another job. But in 1592, his luck changed. He was hired at the University of Padua, one of the best universities during that time. He was very appreciated as a teacher, and was now married to a woman named Marina Gamba. He was now free to experiment and invent. During that time, he built himself a geometrical compass, and invented the first thermometer.
Galileo had some personal characteristics that helped him invent. He was very observant, and always wanted to get the answers to his questions. He had a lot of curiosity, especially when he wanted the answers to his questions, and if he didn't find them, he would take a book and reread the whole thing. He was very patient, because he was a teacher, and taught to some very disobedient students. These are only some of the characteristics Galileo had.
Quiz
http://www.surfnetkids.com/games/galileo_galilei_quiz.htm
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