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
SS Galileo Galilei to the decline of ocean liners. "Galileo Galilei" returned to Genoa and repaired after she struck a reef off the coast of West Africa on 13 January 1975. "Galileo Galilei" continued to operate on the Italy–Australia run until April 1977, at which point she was withdrawn from service and laid up. Her lay-up was short, and in October 1977 she returned to her builders for a lengthy reconstruction into a cruise ship. On 24 March 1979 the "Galileo Galilei" finally started cruise service with Italia Crociere (owned by Italia Navigazione, who also owned Lloyd Triestino). However, already in September of