However, his fame spread across the globe for his invention of the telescope. He was the first to observe the four large moons of Jupiter and notice that they went round the planet. He was the first man to see sunspots and the phases of Venus. All these observations led him to conclude that planets went round the sun.

Galileo constructed not one but two hundred telescopes and donated them to various educational institutes for astronomical observations. He wrote his book in Italian so that his countrymen would understand him. Since his views contradicted those of the Church, Galileo suffered the torture of an inquisition.

Galileo was a greatexponent of scientific temper. He held, ``In questions of science, the authority of a thousand is not worth the humble reasoning of a single individual.'' Galileo is rightly called the father of modern science.