Galileo had a good salary at Padua, but he had been told that it would not again be increased. Also, for this salary he had to teach, taking time away from his research. He was able to strike an agreement with Cosimo, who named him court mathematician and philosopher, with a professorship at Pisa that carried no teaching duties. Galileo insisted on the title “court philosopher” because despite the exciting progress made in astronomy by mathematicians such as Kepler, and despite the arguments of professors like Clavius, mathematicians continued to have a lower status than that enjoyed by
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