Galileo Galilei

This is the last, and perhaps most important, work by the man Einstein called "the father of modern science." Confined to house arrest in the final years of his life after his heresy trial, Galileo Galilei composed his "Dialogues Concerning Two New Sciences" in 1638 as a sort of magnum opus to a life devoted to scientific experimentation. The book outlines his investigations into physics and astronomy, and includes such topics as the law of free fall,...

Galileo's telescopic discoveries, and especially his observation of sunspots, caused great debate in an age when the heavens were thought to be perfect and unchanging. Christoph Scheiner, a Jesuit mathematician, argued that sunspots were planets or moons crossing in front of the Sun. Galileo, on the other hand, countered that the spots were on or near the surface of the Sun itself, and he supported his position with a series of meticulous observations...