Formerly known as the Institute and Museum of the History of Science, the Museo Galileo in Florence, Italy is a must-see for science nerds everywhere. There are over a thousand objects, including globes, barometers and microscopes from the last five centuries. But the most interesting part of the museum is Galileo himself. He died in 1642 and his body was exhumed 95 years later. A vertebra ended up in the University of Padua’s collection, but three fingers and a tooth were believed to be lost to history. Until they ended up in a 2009 auction. Now Galileo’s mummified middle finger is displayed in a gold and glass reliquary for all eyes to see.
In case you didn’t know, Galileo is most famous for saying Earth revolved the sun, which was condemned by the Vatican. Church teaching at the time held Earth as the center of the universe. It wasn’t until the 1990s that the church recognized its mistake over the Galileo incident. I think Galileo has the final say by raising his middle finger to the whole freakin’ thing.
