- Galileo Galilei was an Italian astronomer, physicist and engineer born in 1564 in Pisa, Italy. He made several important scientific discoveries that helped overturn the ideas of Aristotle and supported Copernicus's theory that the Earth revolves around the Sun. - Using his self-improved telescope, Galileo observed mountains on the Moon, stars within the Milky Way, and sunspots. He also saw that Venus showed phases like the Moon and thus must orbit the Sun. These observations supported the Copernican theory over the Ptolemaic system. - Galileo published his findings in 1632 but was found guilty of heresy by the Catholic Church for his support of heliocentrism. He spent the rest of

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