Galileo suggested that a falling object would do so with a regular acceleration, given the resistance of the medium through which it was falling was insignificant, nearly tending to that of a vacuum. He developed an accurate kinematic law for the distance covered during an even acceleration starting from rest, i.e. the acceleration is directly proportional to the square of time that lapses (d ∝ t²). However, this was not a discovery as Nicole Oresme had deduced the same in the 14^th century, and Domingo de Soto in the16th. Galileo, however, stated the time-squared law in algebraic form and this was adopted by latter-day scientists.

Galileo set the foundation for Newton’s first law of motion by stating that bodies maintain their velocity except when a force (mainly friction) acts on them, this brought an end to Aristotle’s assertion that bodies naturally reduced speed and stopped unless a force acted on them. His Principle of Inertia stated: “An object moving on a flat surface will continue to do so in the same direction at a uniform speed unless disturbed”. This was integrated into Newton’s first law of motion (Næss, 2002, pp. 112).

Galileo suggested that a falling object would do so with a regular acceleration, given the resistance of the medium through which it was falling was insignificant, nearly tending to that of a vacuum. He developed an accurate kinematic law for the distance covered during an even acceleration starting from rest, i.e. the acceleration is directly proportional to the square of time that lapses (d ∝ t²). However, this was not a discovery as Nicole Oresme had deduced the same in the 14^th century, and Domingo de Soto in the16th. Galileo, however, stated the time-squared law in algebraic form and this was adopted by latter-day scientists.