ABSTRACT
Galileo Galilei’s astronomical observations are well known. Among them, he discovered the four largest moons of Jupiter, saw the rough cratered surface of the Moon and spots on the Sun, saw the rings of Saturn, and most important, observed that Venus displays phases, strong evidence for a heliocentric rather than an Earth-centered solar system. That last observation led to Galileo’s conflict with the received position of the church in favor of a geocentric system. There are no extant images of anything Galileo saw through a microscope, but several pieces of evidence indicate that he used the instrument. His student John Wedderburn wrote that Galileo was microscopically examining certain “minute animals” and “insects” as early as 1610. Few scientists have the opportunity to look at the universe at both large and small scales, nor to do work that strongly affects society and religion. Viewing Galileo through these lenses gives a clear picture of his legacy after 400 years.
