Inventions

The first major invention and patent for Galileo was the geometric and military compass, a tool designed to operate as a primitive pocket calculator. The device would also determine square roots, assist ship makers in creating models to scale, and determine currency exchange rates. The project began to take so much of Galileo's time that he eventually hired someone to make the compasses which sold consistently.

Probably the most well known invention of Galileo's is the telescope. Although the concept for the "spyglass," as it was commonly known, was developed in Florence, Galileo heard about the new device and decided to make his own version, without ever seeing the other device.

Galileo was highly successful in the first and subsequent refinements of the telescope. As a mathematician and astrologer, Galileo was able to calculate the necessary shape and thickness of the lenses needed to view stars in...