This popular experiment during the Apollo 15 mission was a dramatic demonstration of a prediction made by Galileo three centuries earlier. Galileo was born in Pisa on February 15th in 1564, just 454 years ago today. Galileo wrote a book Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems, Ptolemaic and Copernican comparing the old and new world models. He also worked in practical applications of science, describing the properties of pendulums and hydrostatic balances and inventing the thermometer. Galileo has been called the father of observational astronomy, the father of modern physics and even the father of science.

Source: The Irish Times February 15, 2018 02:26 UTC