Galileo Playground

Macombs Rd bet. W 176 St and W 175 St

Bronx

Directions via Google Maps

This text is part of Parks’ Historical Signs Project and can be found posted within the park.

Galileo Galilei was born near Pisa on February 15th in 1564 - the same year in which Shakespeare was born, and in which Michelangelo died. The son of Giulia Ammannati and Vincenzo Galilei, Galileo Galilei studied at the University of Pisa where he served as Chair of Mathematics from 1589 to 1592. Galileo was then appointed to the Chair of Mathematics at the University of Padua where he stayed until 1610. It was during his time in Padua that Galileo performed experiments on acceleration, invented the microscope, built a telescope, and made the celestial observations for which he is best known. Conventional wisdom of the time followed Aristotle's theory that heavier objects fall faster than light ones. Tradition has it that Galileo performed an experiment in which he dropped objects of differing weights from the tower of Pisa. Galileo's observation that the objects hit the ground simultaneously helped disprove Aristotle's earlier claim. Using his handmade telescope, Galileo made dis…

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