Explore Galileo Galilei's life, discoveries, controversies and legacy in astronomy. A journey through Renaissance intellect and scientific revolution.

Galileo Galilei, “martyr of science” in the picturesque 19th-­century expression, has undoubtedly attracted more biographers than Copernicus, Kepler, Newton and Einstein combined.

He was born in Tuscany, Italy in 1564, when parents frequently provided their sons with personal names inspired by their traditional family identifiers. In fact, Galileo’s forebearers actually used ...