It started one day. He started feeling tired. He had no energy. He looked at his life. He hoped his work would be put to use in the future. Galileo Galilei was no more. He had taken his last breath. His last book had been publish, a book of all his achievements and theories he ever created. A peaceful death of a truly notable person. In his last few years he went blind. An exciting life, a life where he was accused, where he was respected. Galileo felt it all in his life. 

 

In this Night of the Notables task, I had quite a trouble choosing my notable. I didn't want to choose someone who was very famous but I also wanted to choose someone I knew. I spent the whole holiday trying to think of my notable. Days went on without knowing who to pick. We were in lockdown then so it was much harder to get ideas from friends. It was one night when I was looking at the sky, it was beautiful. The stars shined like diamonds and it was at that moment when a lightbulb suddenly switched on inside my head. Astronomy. Galileo Galilei. At that moment, I had decided my notable. 

 

Mr. Crerar sent us a sheet which helped us research. I personally thought it was very helpful. I started with a website I had used a lot before. Biography was the one I was looking for. The research process was rather easy and smooth. Before beginning the Notables task, I thought it would be hard and tiring. The teachers made the task a whole lot easier by spreading the task due dates out. There were a few hard bits of this project though. Sometimes, I can't find the exact information I want. I would start searching and the internet wouldn't give me answers. Sometimes, it took over an hour to find the piece of information I wanted. 

 

Galileo Galilei achieved many things during his eventful life. Many people know he made the first telescope. That is false. When he first heard of the telescope, he decided to build his own despite never seeing the original telescope. His telescope could magnify up to 30 times. This telescope was very popular in Europe and astronomers in the next generation used it to study the stars. Using the telescope Galilei made many discoveries. He discovered what the Milky Way was made up of: stars. He also discovered the Galilean moons: Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto. They are the four largest moons of Jupiter. Galilei did all that from his little telescope. Back then, people thought the moon was completely round. Galilei discovered the fact that it was not round and had craters and mountains just like the Earth. No other person during that time had thought otherwise. That makes him notable. 

 

Galilei was an astronomer but he was also a physicist. His most famous discovery was when he dropped two steel balls from the Tower of Pisa. One of those balls was light. One of those balls was heavy. He dropped both at the same time and height. They landed at the exact same time. This proved Aristotle's theory wrong. Aristotle believed that objects with different weight fall at different speeds. Galileo proved that wrong by proving it was wrong. He also opposed popular ideology and expressed his thoughts despite knowing that he would be hated which makes him notable. 

 

The main hardship Galileo faced was being accused of heresy. In his lifetime he was accused of heresy twice because of promoting Copernicus's theory. In 1616, he was first accused of heresy because he wrote a book about the forbidden theory. Fortunately, those charges were removed but he was warned not to promote theory. In 1633, he was accused of heresy again. This time, Galileo wasn't so fortunate. He was sentenced to life imprisonment which was later converted to house arrest. Despite knowing the consequences of promoting Copernicus's, he decided to do what was right and that makes him notable. 

 

Galileo Galilei was a relatively quiet person. He was very inventive, creative and not the person you would ask for help. He never gave up if something didn't work and he didn't like to be distracted from his work. He was also courageous because he risked his life to prove his theories. His creativity and intelligence sometimes annoyed people because he often proved people wrong. Galileo saw the world as structured and measured. This made his thoughts rigid. He had a disability to understand how people feel and think. Galileo once said 'Measure what is measurable and make measurable what is not'. This shows that despite Galileo being intelligent, creative and notable, he had his flaws.  

 

I am a shy kid. I usually just consider the answer or the fact as right. Before I knew about Galileo, I always thought that if something was right, it was right. After I knew about Galileo, I realised I was wrong. He had proved many people wrong. He had opposed the fact. I always thought you can't oppose facts. That's when I also realised he was the first person to implement experiments in his theories. Before then, everyone just made theories without anything to back it up. It was at that moment that I realised anyone could prove anything wrong with experiments, proof or through studying. At school, I have found many wrong answers on the answer sheet instead of just agreeing the answer is always right. Because Galileo used experiments, the facts these days have been getting more trustworthy. 

 

Galileo Galilei was a man of wonders. He made many notable achievements in his life and he deserves the recognition he gets today. He made the telescope and discovered many things with it. He proved many facts wrong. He opposed common ideology. I definitely think that Galileo Galilei is a notable. He is one of the people I look up to!