Giordano Bruno's father, Giovanni Bruno, was a professional soldier who married Fraulissa Savolino. They baptised their son Filippo Bruno but later Filippo was called "Il Nolano" after the town of his birth which stands on the northeastern slope of Vesuvius. Only at the age of 17 when he entered the Dominican convent of San Domenico Maggiore in Naples, where Thomas Aquinas had taught, did Filippo take the name Giordano. Bruno left his home town of Nola …showed first 75 words of 1877 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1877 total…his works minimises the importance of those remarkable insights. Another reason for Bruno to be downgraded for his achievements is that his knowledge of mathematics and science was not that great and this makes some historians tend to believe that his insights were more luck than understanding. He is seen by some to be a martyr for science, while others see his actions as foolish and describe him as:- ... brilliant, contentious, and ultimately self-destructive.