Galileo Galilei

Italian Galileo Galilei competed for two longitude prizes. To Spain, he offered a solution based on the moons of Jupiter, which he had discovered with a telescope of his own design in 1610. To the Dutch in 1642, he proposed both his astronomical solution and an accurate sea clock—the first clock ever to have a pendulum. Galileo died before making the clock, but his son built a model in 1649.

Caption:
Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei competed for two longitude prizes in the 17th century.
Type: Illustration
Credit: Smithsonian Institution Libraries
Origin: Smithsonian Institution
SIL7-173-02
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Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei competed for two longitude prizes in the 17th century.