Galileo Galilei – often referred to just as Galileo – is someone who often needs no introduction. An Italian astronomer, physicist, mathematician, and philosopher, Galileo was a polymath who made fundamental contributions to a number of fields. The fact that he needs no introduction nearly four centuries after his existence is testament to the work that he did.
Galileo changed the way we study motion. He backed experimentation as a means of uncovering the secrets of nature. And his discoveries with the telescope changed our understanding of the universe.
It isn’t often that discoveries that revolutionise our notion of an entire field can be traced back to one single day. And yet, this was the case with Galileo’s discovery of Jovian satellites, which took shape from January 7, 1610.
