Who is the Father of Science? (Galileo and Thales)

Before the 16th century, 'science' was largely based on the unquestioned philosophical writings of Aristotle or religious doctrine. Galileo Galilei (1564–1642), an Italian astronomer, physicist, and engineer, completely changed this. Albert Einstein famously called Galileo the 'father of modern science' because Galileo insisted that theories must be proven through mathematics, rigorous experimentation, and observation.

Galileo built his own advanced telescopes to observe the heavens. He discovered the four largest moons of Jupiter, the phases of Venus, and sunspots. Crucially, his observations provided undeniable physical proof for the Copernican heliocentric model—the idea that the Earth revolves around the Sun, not the other way around. He also pioneered the laws of kinematics (how objects move and fall), laying the groundwork for Isaac Newton.

If we look further back into antiquity, Thales of Miletus (c. 624 – c. 546 BC) is often credited as the very first scientist. He lived in ancient Greece and was the first recorded person to try to explain natural phenomena (like earthquakes and eclipses) without attributing them to the whims of mythological gods. By seeking logical, natural explanations for how the world worked, Thales laid the philosophical foundation upon which all later science was built.