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Galileo
4 dictionary results for: Galileo Galilei
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
Gal·i·le·o       [gal-uh-ley-oh, -lee-oh; for 1 also It. gah-lee-le-aw] Pronunciation Key
–noun
1.(Galileo Galilei), 1564–1642, Italian physicist and astronomer.
2.Aerospace. a U.S. space probe designed to take photographs and obtain other scientific information while orbiting the planet Jupiter.
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
Ga·li·le·o Ga·li·lei       (gāl'ə-lē'ō gāl'ə-lā', -lā'ō)  Pronunciation Key 
Italian astronomer and physicist. The first to use a telescope to study the stars (1610), he was an outspoken advocate of Copernicus's theory that the sun forms the center of the universe, which led to his persecution and imprisonment by the Inquisition (1633).

Gal'i·le'an adj.
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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This
galileo galilei

noun
Italian astronomer and mathematician who was the first to use a telescope to study the stars; demonstrated that different weights descend at the same rate; perfected the refracting telescope that enabled him to make many discoveries (1564-1642) [syn: Galileo] 

WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
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The American Heritage Science Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
Galileo Galilei       (gāl'ə-lā'ō gāl'ə-lā')  Pronunciation Key 
Italian astronomer, mathematician, and physicist. He was the first to use a telescope to study the stars and planets, and he discovered various astronomical phenomena and physical principles.

Our Living Language  : Galileo Galilei is considered to be the father of modern experimental science. His most significant experiments concerned gravitation. Galileo conducted a series of experiments to measure the effects of gravity on motion, such as measuring the speed of balls of different weights rolling down inclined planes. He found that all objects accelerate at the same, constant rate. He is also famous for the probably apocryphal experiment in which he dropped balls of different masses from the Tower of Pisa. Had the experiment actually taken place, air resistance might have caused the balls to fall at different rates, defying the principle of acceleration that Galileo was trying to demonstrate. In 1609, having heard of the invention of the spyglass, a tube with a piece of glass at each end that made objects appear closer and larger, Galileo set about making his own. Using his telescope, he observed mountains on the Moon's surface (which was thought to be flat), Jupiter's four largest moons, and sunspots. Because he openly supported Copernicus's theory that Earth and all the planets orbit the Sun, Galileo was called before authorities of the Catholic Church and forced to declare the theory false. He was put under house arrest on his own farm, where he continued his scientific work until the end of his life.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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