Galileo Galilei, an Italian Scientist, was the man who discovered and created many theories that shaped the modern sciences. .

             Galileo was born in Pisa, Italy on February 15, 1564 to Vincenzio Galilei and was the first child in his family. His family was part of the Italian nobility, though they weren¹t rich. His father was a merchant and musician, as well as a champion of advanced musical theories of the day. His family moved from Pisa to Florence, Italy in 1574. He started school that year at the local monastery of Vallombrosa. Only seven years later, in 1581, Galileo moved back to Pisa to start studies at the University of Pisa. His original field of study was in medicine. In 1583, while home in Florence on vacation, Galileo began to study mathematics and physical sciences. He discovered the law of Pendulum by watching a chandelier swing in the cathedral in Pisa. He timed it with his pulse and found that, whether it swung in a wide or a narrow arc, it always took the same number of pulses. From this, society gained it¹s first constant method of keeping time. .

             Galileo discontinued his studies of medicine at the University of Pisa and shifted solely to mathematics and science, but in Pisa at the time there was only one notable science teacher, Francisco Buonamico. Buonamico was a Aristotelian, therefore Galileo became a disciple to him, and as shown in Galileo¹s book Juvenilia he was very into Aristotelian physics and cosmology. Due to a lack of money, Galileo was forced to drop out of the University of Pisa in 1585. Soon after dropping out, Galileo became a lecturer at the Academy of Florence. .

             While in Florence , Galileo was successful in furthering his knowledge of mathematics and physics. He proceeded to create two theories that were circulated in writing only and made his name well respected. The first was La bilancetta (The Little Balance), which explained the principles and ideas behind balancing hydrostatically.