I'd like to know why Galileo from HRM did stuff. And some Joe Smart from Castile didn't. Fair question but one that could apply to almost any historical figure

I'd like to know why Galileo from HRM did stuff. And some Joe Smart from Castile didn't. Fair question but one that could apply to almost any historical figure who has done stuff. Most of (us) don't. A few do. http://www.cs.rhul.ac.uk/~adrian/images/Galileo_Galilei_2.jpg http://www.cs.rhul.ac.uk/~adrian/images/Galileo_Galilei_2.jp... My preferred portrait of Galileo. Might give you one answer. Another answer: There are a shelf-loads of books about Galileo around that go into more detail about the historical setting than the OA which I imagine was aimed at children. He was the son of a court musician (who may have played in one of the first operas) and therefore had access to powerful people. He was good at his maths and that lead to being a private teacher with rich young aristos as his students, and to his acting as a designer of fortifications (contact with powerful people again). He belonged to a club of people interested in new curiosities and experiments. Networking - a sign of the times. Quite a modern man in many ways. Contrast his successful PR with that of Johannes Kepler. Much more useful model of the planetary motions, and an insight into the underlying physics. Much less recognition.