Galileo was a real physicist and mathematician besides being an astronomer. But what were his contributions to mechanics like throw and fall and collision? Did he perhaps already know Newton's first law a little bit?
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$\begingroup$ For an overview, see Galileo's Physics. $\endgroup$– Mauro ALLEGRANZAFeb 15, 2017 at 19:39
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$\begingroup$ For more details : Peter Damerow,Gideon Freudenthal,Peter McLaughlin,Jürgen Renn, Exploring the Limits of Preclassical Mechanics: A Study of Conceptual Development in Early Modern Science: Free Fall and Compounded Motion in the Work of Descartes, Galileo and Beeckman (2004). $\endgroup$– Mauro ALLEGRANZAFeb 15, 2017 at 19:42
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$\begingroup$ Also Winifred Wisan, The New Science of Motion: A Study of Galileo’s De Motu Locali (1974). $\endgroup$– Mauro ALLEGRANZAFeb 15, 2017 at 20:04
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His most important contribution was the Principle of Galilean Relativity. His second most important contribution was his inclined plane experiment which showed all bodies accelerate at the same rate independent of their masses.