Galileo -- and Ed Roberts
Feb. 15, 2002 -- Today, February 15th, is Galileo's birthday. He was an Italian astronomer and physicist who, while dealing with the symptoms of Attention Deficit Disorder and learning disabilities, made the first effective use of the telescope. Doing so led him to question the strongly held belief at the time that the Earth was at the center of the universe. For this he was tried and convicted in 1633 by the Church Inquisition as a heretic. Even while being forced to publicly "recant" that belief, he quietly maintained "And yet...it moves!" He died a quiet hero with visual impairment and under permanent house arrest.