Galileo Galilei by Ventura Brazil L +4

Galileo Galilei was an Italian mathematician, physicist and astronomer. He was born in Pisa, in the Tuscany region of Italy. Initially, following his father's wishes, Galileo studied medicine, but soon he became more intrigued by mathematics and the physical sciences.

One of Galileo's legendary experiments involved measuring the speed at which cannonballs fall. Galileo conducted this experiment by dropping canonballs and objects of different weights from the famous Leaning Tower of Pisa.

With this app students learn about the life and accomplishments of Galileo. One of his many challenges was teaching about his scientific discoveries when they conflicted with the teachings of the Church. For example, Galileo studied the planets used a telescope that he designed. He discovered four moons orbiting Jupiter and he proved mathematically that Venus is between the Earth and the Sun and that it orbits the Sun not the Earth. During the time of the Inquisition these ideas were heresy and Galileo was punished for writing about them.

Students will enjoy using this graphically illustrated, interactive learning tool. The timeline feature presents a sequential view of Galileo's scientific and mathematical journey. A quiz function helps students demonstrate their comprehension of the reading material. Galileo's work showed how the scientific method could be used to make monumental discoveries about the natural world and we hope this app will inspire students to study math and science. The app shows that Galileo certainly deserves the title 'Father of Modern Science'.