Galileo Galilei
1564-1642

In the Portico, Galileo Galilei, the subject of this web site, stands among giants in the arts. There are statues of Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Giotto, Cellini…names that are linked to the creation of beauty on canvas, in stone and in metal. Other Portico residents are writers who expressed their vision in words we still read hundreds of years after they were written. Galileo also created beauty by establishing experiment as the basis for discovering truth about the workings of our universe. The scientists, who are Galileo’s neighbors in the Portico, were all strong experimenters, relying not on what they thought was true but what they observed to be true. Galileo left a legacy, which is still active today. His experimental work with simple telescopes then is the basis for the views of our universe from Hubble today.

Related Websites

Nova: Galileo Resources

Nova: Galileo's Homepage

Rice University: The Galileo Project

Florence Museum of Science:
Room IV Galileo Galilei

Galileo Galilei's Notes on Motion

Institute and Museum of the History of Science Homepage

Galileo Timeline

Galileo Galilei: Astronomer and Physicist

Florence Museum of Science: Galileo Bibliography

Leaning Tower of Pisa