Name:______________________________
Period: _______________
Matching Gravity’s Greatest
Thinkers
Directions: Throughout history, four men played significant roles in the development of current ideas
about gravity and motion. In your groups, discuss what information might pertain to each of these men
and write their names in the appropriate spaces. They are:
ARISTOTLE
GALILEO
NEWTON
EINSTEIN
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Lived from 1564 – 1642.
Lived from 1879 – 1955.
Lived from 384 – 322 B.C.
Lived from 1642 – 1727.
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A German-American physicist.
An English scientist, astronomer, and mathematician.
A Greek philosopher, educator, and scientist.
An Italian astronomer and physicist.
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Discovered how the universe is held together through his theory of gravitation.
Familiarized himself with all Greek thought that came before him.
Best known for his theory of relativity.
Discovered the laws of falling bodies and the pendulum.
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Was the teacher of Alexander the Great.
Found that gravitation makes every pair of bodies in the universe attract each other.
Found that many of Aristotle’s claims about the heavens were false.
Laid the basis for controlling the release of energy from the atom.
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Developed law of falling bodies that states that all objects fall at the same speed,
regardless of their mass.
Developed equation, E=mc2.
Ideas have declined since the Middle Ages, but his influence was absorbed into
language of science and philosophy.
Published the first book to contain a unified system of scientific principles explaining
what happens on earth and in the heavens.
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Wrote a letter to president explaining it might be possible to build an atomic bomb.
Found guilty of teaching a sun-centered universe theory and was sentenced to life
imprisonment.
Found that the force that keeps the planets in orbit around the sun and the moon in orbit
around the earth and also acts upon bodies falling to earth is the same.
Held theory that the earth was both stationary and at the center of the universe.
More Directions: Now, on the back of this paper, neatly draw a chart and place this information in it.
Then, draw a timeline and place the names, dates, and what you consider to be the most
important information about each scientist on it.