Galileo Galilei was a notable Italian astronomer, physicist, philosopher and mathematician. Along with Archimedes, Einstein and Newton, he represents one of the greatest scientists in the world. Galileo was not the first to invent the telescope, but the first to improve it and expand the ideas of the world at that time. Galileo Galileo was born on February 15, 1564 in Pisa, Italy, and was the first of seven children. of Vincenzio Galilei, a merchant, and Giula Ammannati, an upper-class woman who married below her class. When Galileo was a young boy, his family moved to Florence, Italy. In November 1581, Vincenzio Galilei had Galileo enrolled in the Medical School of the University of Pisa, because he wanted Galileo to become a doctor. Galileo had other plans, and in early 1583 he began to spend his time with professors of mathematics rather than those of medicine. When his father learned of this, he was furious and traveled 60 miles from Florence to Pisa just to confront his son with the knowledge he had neglected in his studies. The mathematics teacher intervened and persuaded Vincenzio to allow Galileo to study mathematics on the condition that after a year all of Galileo's support would be cut off and he would be left alone. In the spring of 1585, Galileo skipped his final exams and left university without a degree. He began to find work as a mathematics teacher. In November 1589, Galileo found a position as professor of mathematics at the University of Pisa, the same school he had left without a degree four years before. Galileo was a brilliant professor, but his astonishing ways of thinking and open criticism of Aristotle's teachings were not acceptable to other professors at the university. They considered his... middle of paper ... and executed at the stake for the crime of heresy. On May 10 he admitted his heresy in writing and on June 22 he confessed it publicly. He was sentenced to house arrest in his home near Florence for an indefinite period. In 1638, Galileo was blind and suffering from arthritis. He continued to work on books with the help of his dedicated students and friends. The Vatican later pardoned Galileo and officially recognized that he had been right all along. But it was not until three hundred and fifty years later, in 1992, that this theory was proven. Works Cited Bendick, Jeanne. Galileo arrived next. Sandwich, Mass.: Beautiful Feet Books, 1999. Print. Bendick, Jeanne. Galen and the gateway to medicine. Bathgate, ND: Bethlehem Books;, 2002. Print. Nardo, Don. The trial of Galileo: science against the Inquisition. San Diego, CA: Lucent Books, 2004. Print.