The square–cube law was first described by an astronomer born in what year?
Galileo Galilei Galileo Galilei (] ; 15 February 1564 – 8 January 1642) was an Italian polymath: astronomer, physicist, engineer, philosopher, and mathematician. He has been called the "father of observational astronomy", the "father of modern physics", the "father of the scientific method", and the "father of science". Galileo studied speed and velocity, gravity and free fall, the principle of relativity, inertia, projectile motion and also worked in applied science and technology, describing the properties of pendulums and "hydrostatic balances", inventing the thermoscope and various military compasses, and using the telescope (a Dutch optical instrument) for scientific observations of celestial objects.
Pierre de Fermat Pierre de Fermat (] ; (Between 31 October and 6 December 1607 – 12 January 1665) was a French lawyer at the "Parlement" of Toulouse, France, and a mathematician who is given credit for early developments that led to infinitesimal calculus, including his technique of adequality. In particular, he is recognized for his discovery of an original method of finding the greatest and the smallest ordinates of curved lines, which is analogous to that of differential calculus, then unknown, and his research into number theory. He made notable contributions to analytic geometry, probability, and optics. He is best known for his Fermat's principle for light propagation and his Fermat's Last Theorem in number theory, which he described in a note at the margin of a copy of Diophantus' "Arithmetica".