Historical Astronomers in Context

Galileo Galilei was born on February 15, 1564 and died on January 8, 1642. During his lifetime he made monumental contributions to the world of astronomy. He did not invent the telescope, but he made improvements to it and this allowed him to observe the universe, like no one had ever done. Some of the things that he observed was the 4 moons of Jupiter, craters on the moon, the phases of Venus, and much more.

While Galileo was busy making contributions in the world of science, so much was going on around him. During his lifetime, Jamestown, Virginia was settled by England, setting up the first, permanent English Colony in North America. Also, the King James version of the Bible was created. This is also a major event because that version of the Bible is still used by the Catholic Church today! So much was going on at this time, it was really jammed pack with events. Along with all these event, many other significant figures were around during this time. For instance, William Shakespeare was actively writing and becoming one of the greatest authors in the English language. It really puts time into perspective when you realize how much is going on at any given moment.

It is absolutely crazy when you look back into time and see how much was happening at once. It is still like that today, history is literally being created every day. I always enjoy thinking of this in terms of the Cosmic Calendar. The entire history of human civilization has only been the last few seconds of the last day of the year. It is amazing when you think about how much happens in such a short amount of time, relative to the age of the universe.