First Sentence

"GALILEO GALILEI, one of the earliest and, perhaps, one of the greatest of the experimental philosophers of the modern world, and the father of telescopic astronomy, is generally known in history by his baptismal name, Galileo, alone, in accordance with a custom of the Italians to call their great men by their Christian names, or by nicknames derived from some peculiarity of the individual or from the place of his birth."