Galileo Galilei to Einstein's special theory of relativity. A biography by Galileo's pupil Vincenzo Viviani stated that Galileo had dropped balls of the same material, but different masses, from the Leaning Tower of Pisa to demonstrate that their time of descent was independent of their mass. This was contrary to what Aristotle had taught: that heavy objects fall faster than lighter ones, in direct proportion to weight. While this story has been retold in popular accounts, there is no account by Galileo himself of such an experiment, and it is generally accepted by historians that it was at most a thought experiment
Galileo Galilei but science in general, with a particular slant towards young people. Asteroid 697 Galilea is named in his honour. Galileo is mentioned several times in the "opera" section of the Queen song, "Bohemian Rhapsody". He features prominently in the song "Galileo" performed by the Indigo Girls and Amy Grant's "Galileo" on her "Heart in Motion" album. Twentieth-century plays have been written on Galileo's life, including "Life of Galileo" (1943) by the German playwright Bertolt Brecht, with a film adaptation (1975) of it, and "Lamp At Midnight" (1947) by Barrie Stavis, as well as the 2008 play "Galileo Galilei". Kim Stanley