Galileo Galilei was born in Pisa, Italy on February 15th, 1564. His parents were Vincenzo Galilei, and Giulia Degli Ammannati. Galileo had six siblings, and was the oldest of them all. His father, Vincenzo, was a wool trader, as well as a musician. He wanted his son to have a job in medicine, and sent him off to study at the age of eleven, in a jesuit monastery. However, after four years of studying in this monastery, Galileo told his father that he wanted to be a monk. His father had a different dream for him, and so he removed his son from the monastery.Galileo was sent to go study medicine, instead, at the University of Pisa at age 17. While there, he discovered an interest in math. He left the university to become a math tutor, and later became a professor.
In 1609, Galileo invented the telescope. Using his new invention, he discovered that the moon wasn't smooth, but rather had a surface much like Earth's surface. Galileo also discovered four of Jupiter's moons. Galileo believed Copernicus' theory, that all the planets circled around the Sun. This theory was not like the one that the Catholics believed. They believed that the entire solar system circled around the earth. In 1616, Galileo was accused of being a heretic (someone who is against the Church teachings). He was cleared of charges, but was warned to not publicly state that the solar system circulated around the Sun. He agreed, but continued his studies on the solar system, and became even more convinced that his theory was correct. In 1632, he published a book which stated that Copernicus' theory was true, and so was placed under house arrest for life in 1633.
Galileo Galilei later died, on January 8th, 1642.
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