ALPHABETICAL BRAIN™ VOCABULARY #7 OF THE 100 MOST INFLUENTIAL SCIENTISTS #7 GALILEO GALILEI Life Dates: 1564-1642 MODERN VIEW OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM Galileo was the great transitional figure in the history of science, making early discoveries in the nature of gravity. Galileo helped establish the Copernican Model of the Solar System as a revolution in science. His passion for the truth of his discoveries, his use of a telescope to see stars and planets, and his mathematics that proved his ideas challenged the dogma of the Catholic Church (Holy Roman Empire). Later Newton formalized Galileo's work. SOURCES = The Scientific 100 by John Simmons (pages 40-44); Britannica Encyclopedia; and Wikipedia. instantly go to: NUMERICAL LIST OF 100 MOST INFLUENTIAL SCIENTISTS IN HISTORY or return to: ALPHABETICAL BRAIN™ VOCABULARY INDEX