1. The father of modern science, Galileo Galilei was persecuted by the Catholic Church despite the veracity of his claims
Considered the father of several disciplines and fields, including observational astronomy, modern physics, the scientific method, and even modern science in general, Galileo Galilei was an Italian polymath who lived during the Renaissance period. Championing the heliocentric interpretation of the universe proposed by Copernicus in 1543 – twenty-one years prior to Galileo’s own birth – in opposition to the prevailing geocentric models of the time, Galileo’s consistent and ardent defense of the theory ultimately attracted unsavory attention. Drawing the ire of the Roman Inquisition, after decades of ill-treatment and abuse Galileo was eventually accused of heresy in 1633.
Found “vehemently suspect of heresy”, Galileo was forced to recant his scientific beliefs, in particular, that the Sun lies at the center and around which the Earth revolves. Sentenced to life imprisonment, commuted to house arrest, for the remainder of his life, Galileo used his final years to condense and publish prior research and ideas on subjects of physics spanning speed and gravity to relativity and motion. One of the foremost scientists in human history, Galileo deserves not only to know his steady conviction in his theories was well-founded but to experience the wonders of the modern age he helped to build.
Where do we find this stuff? Here are our sources:
“Mozart: A Cultural Biography”, Robert Gutman, Harcourt Brace (2000)
“The Life of Mozart”, Edward Holmes, Cosimo Classics (2005)
“The Presidency of Franklin Delano Roosevelt”, George McJimsey, University Press of Kansas (2000)
“Einstein: A Life”, Denis Brian, John Wiley and Sons (1996)
“Einstein: His Life and Universe”, Walter Isaacson, Simon and Schuster Paperbacks (2007)
“Plato: A Beginner’s Guide”, Roy Jackson, Hoder and Stroughton Publishing (2001)
“On Socrates”, Hope May, Wadsworth Publishing (2000)
“Joan of Arc: A Military Leader”, Kelly DeVries, Sutton Publishing (1999)
“Joan of Arc”, Edward Lucie-Smith, Allen Lane Publishing (1976)
“Shakespeare: The Biography”, Peter Ackroyd, Vintage Books (2006)
“Shakespeare’s Life and Work”, Sidney Lee, Smith, Elder & Company (1900)
“George Washington: A Biography”, John R. Alden, Louisiana State University Press (1996)
“George Washington: Foundation of Presidential Leadership and Character”, Ethan M. Fishman, William D. Pederson, and Mark J. Rozell, Greenwood Publishing Group (2001)
“Leonardo da Vinci: Artist, Scientist, Inventor”, Simona Cremante, Giunti Press (2005)
“Julius Caesar: The People’s Dictator”, Luciano Canfora, Edinburgh University Press (2006)
“Caesar: Life of a Colossus”, Adrian Goldsworthy, Yale University Press (2006)
“Alan Turing: His Work and Impact”, Barry S. Cooper, Elsevier Publishing (2013)
“Aristotle the Philosopher”, J.L. Ackrill, Oxford University Press (1981)
“The Biography of Anne Frank: Roses from the Earth”, Carol Ann Lee, Gardners Books (2000)
“Michelangelo On and Off the Sistine Ceiling”, Creighton Gilbert, George Braziller Publishing (1994)
“Michelangelo, the Divine One”, ARHuelsenbeck, Medium. Oct 20, 2018
“Genghis Khan and the Mongol Conquests”, Stephen Turnbull, Osprey Publishing (2003)
“Martin Luther King Jr.: A Life”, Marshall Frady, Penguin Publishing (2005)
“From Civil Rights to Human Rights: Martin Luther King Jr. and the Struggle for Economic Justice”, Thomas F. Jackson, University of Pennsylvania Press (2006)
“The Age of Faith”, Will Durant, Simon and Schuster (1980)
“Eight Theories of Religion”, Daniel L. Pals, Oxford University Press (2006)
“Hitchcock: Past and Future”, Richard Allen and S. Ishii-Gonzales, Routledge (2003)
“The Dark Side of Genius: The Life of Alfred Hitcock”, Donald Spoto, Da Capo Press (1999)
“The First American: The Life and Times of Benjamin Franklin”, H.W. Brands, Anchor Books (2002)
“Benjamin Franklin”, Edwin S. Gaustad, Oxford University Press (2008)
“H.G. Wells: Another Kind of Life”, Michael Sherborne, Peter Owen Publishing (2011)
“Galileo: Antichrist, A Biography”, Michael White, Orion Publishing (2009)
“The Cambridge Companion to Galileo”, Peter Machamer, Cambridge University Press (1998)