Galileo's science

Galileo left us was a model of what it means to be a scientist, someone who not only discovers but also teaches and encourages others to repeat the same path. His works were broadly effective in spurring debate and started a process that, 450 years after his birth, is the core of our way of understanding the Universe. Through his experimental studies and vivid writings, Galileo modeled how to investigate Nature and how to see the physical connections between its fundamental principles and everyday experience. This book traces Galileo's development as a scientist and expositor through his works. It presents him as a transitional figure who sought to extend the base of knowledge as widely as possible through popularization, writing for audiences yet undistinguished as readers. The reader will see that instead than speaking from ``on high'' Galileo provided an intellectual toolbox with which to reason out physical problems.