October 13, 2011
Y'know... I don't think I even knew who Galileo was in grade 9. These ladies are far more advanced than I.
I do remember while I was learning about Galileo though that our science teacher gave us a most excellent and humourous comic that someone had done about him. It focused quite a bit on his... self-important nature and brash unrelenting personality. It was a nice contrast to the hero worship that you get in most writings about him. Did he accomplish great things for Astronomy? Of course! But he did it while being a bit of a prick.
(PS I don't need any lectures on how the Catholic Church blah blah blah. Doesn't change the fact that the man was an egomaniac)