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
Italian submarine Galileo Galilei and ("General Sanjurjo II"). All four were based at Soller. "Galileo Galilei" conducted several patrols without any success. In February 1938 she returned home, as Italy withdrew their submarines from Spanish service due to international pressure. Upon her return, "Galileo Galilei" was temporarily assigned to the 44th Squadron of the VII Submarine Group based at Taranto, together with "Galileo Ferraris", and the more modern , , , and . During 1939 "Galileo Galilei" and "Galileo Ferraris" were moved to a different location and the 44th Squadron was renamed to 41st Squadron. In March 1940, "Galileo Galilei" together with "Galileo Ferraris"