Biography of Galileo Galileo was born near Pisa, on February 15, 1564. His father, Vincenzo Galilei, played an important role in the musical revolution from medieval polyphony to harmonic modulation. Galileo was taught by monks at Vallombrosa and then entered the University of Pisa in 1581 to study medicine. He soon turned to philosophy and mathematics, leaving the university without a degree in 1585. For a time, he tutored privately and wrote on hydrostatics and natural motions, but he did not publish them. In 1589 he became a professor of mathematics at Pisa, where he is reported to have shown his students the error of Aristotle's belief