Galileo Galilei

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A painting of Galileo Galilei
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A painting of Galileo Galilei
Statue of Galileo Galilei. This statue is outside the Ufizi in Florence, Italy
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Statue of Galileo Galilei. This statue is outside the Ufizi in Florence, Italy

Galileo Galilei (February 15, 1564January 8, 1642) was an Italian astronomer, (a person who studies outer space) and a famous thinker.

He made telescopes so he could look at stars and other planets. He also discovered four of Jupiter's moons.

Galileo also figured out many of the rules of how things move. These rules are called physics.

Since Galileo said that the sun was the center of the galaxy, not the earth, the Catholic Church arrested him, and threatened to kill him. He said that he changed his mind, but only to avoid dying. The Church forced him to spend the rest of his life trapped in his house, just in case.