As you probably know, 2009 is going to be a big year for our old friend Galileo. This year marks the 400th anniversary of Galileo hearing about a new Dutch invention called the telescope, recreating it in his own workshop independently, and then turning it toward the sky and making his first, world-changing observations.
To mark the occasion, I’ve created a special video about Galileo and one of his biggest days. It’s the first of several videos I’ll create over the coming weeks to describe Galileo and his big influence on astronomy, science, and world history. The International Astronomical Union is celebrating the International Year of Astronomy (IYA2009) this year to honor Galileo and his achievements. To see more about the IYA programs, go to astronomy2009.us/.
I encourage you to learn a little about Galileo this year and appreciate what he did. He was the first person to observe phenomena around him systematically and scientifically and to understand that the universe is governed by a common language, mathematics. Thus, it was no hyperbole when Albert Einstein said of Galileo, “He is the father of modern physics — indeed, of modern science altogether.”
Related post: "IYA2009 February events," by Karri Ferron, copy editor