Search
Remove Ads
Advertisement
Search Results
Definition
Galileo Galilei
Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) was an Italian mathematician, physicist, astronomer, and natural philosopher. He created a superior telescope with which he made new observations of the night sky, notably that the surface of the Moon has mountains...
Image
Galileo Facing the Roman Inquisition
An 1857 painting titled Galileo Facing the Roman Inquisition by Cristiano Banti. It shows the trial for heresy of the mathematician and astronomer Galileo (1564-1642) in 1633. Galileo was found guilty and sentenced to live under house arrest...
Article
The Telescope & the Scientific Revolution
The invention of the telescope in 1608 is usually credited to the Dutchman Hans Lippershey. The astronomical telescope became one of the most important of all instruments during the Scientific Revolution when figures like Galileo (1564-1642...
Article
Astronomy in the Scientific Revolution
The astronomers of the Scientific Revolution rejected long-held theories of ancient thinkers like Claudius Ptolemy and Aristotle and instead set out to systematically observe the heavens in order to create a model of the universe that fit...
Video
Ugly History: The Spanish Inquisition - Kayla Wolf
Dig into the era of the Spanish Inquisition, when the Catholic Church was charged with rooting out and punishing heresy. In 1478 CE, Pope Sixtus IV issued a decree authorizing the Catholic monarchs, Ferdinand and Isabella, to root out...
Image
Galileo's Map of the Moon
A map of the Moon's surface by Galileo (1564-1642), drawn using a telescope the astronomer had built himself. The uneven line of shadow aided Galileo in identifying the nature of the Moon's surface and the approximate size of its mountains...
Definition
Claudius Ptolemy
Claudius Ptolemy (c. 100 to c. 170 CE) was an Alexandrian mathematician, astronomer, and geographer. His works survived antiquity and the Middle Ages intact, and his theories, particularly on a geocentric model of the universe with planets...
Image
Eyepiece of Galileo's Telescope
The eyepiece of a model of the telescope made by Galileo (1564-1642) c. 1608. Galileo made a telescope capable of x33 magnification and used it to make several important discoveries in astronomy. 970 mm x 60 mm. (Science Museum, London)
Image
Galileo's Design for a Pendulum Clock
A design for a pendulum clock made by Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) in the last year of his life. Galileo never made a working model of the clock (although his son did in 1649). Illustration by Vincenzo Viviani. (Science Museum, London)
Definition
William the Silent
William the Silent (l. 1533-1584, also known as William of Orange) was the leader of the Dutch Revolt (the Eighty Years' War) in the Netherlands; first politically (between 1559-1568) then militarily (between 1568-1584). He is among the most...