What if Galileo Galilei had respected and admired the works of Aristotle?

He didn't, of course. Galileo failed to get his degree because he detested Aristotle, and the concept of theory in general, which is such a seminal aspect of Aristotle's writings. This was at a time when University education consisted pretty much exclusively of Classics, and Law. Galileo pretty much followed the dictum coined by Steinbeck in "East of Eden": "like all true empiricists, he had a horror of theory." You see, there exists a certain conflict between empiricists and theoreticians. Theory constrains perception to some extent, it requires assumptions. And empiricists like data, and fear assumptions. To some extent, perception is reality, and theory constrains it, of course. I strongly suspect that one of the reasons Galileo didn't come up with Newton's concept of Universal Gravitation is that he simply wouldn't have liked the idea. Perhaps it occurred to him, but he rejected it, as totally unnecessary to understand the Universe. After all, the data could determine the structure of the Universe, there was no need for underlying assumptions, at all. That's why he preferred Copernicus to Ptolemy, and turned his telescope on the heavens. He liked data, and simple, Occam's Razor type solutions to problems. The Holy Inquisition put him on trial, and condemned him not for supporting the Copernican Doctrine, but, for failing to come up with a theoretical model of the universe consistent with it. Of course, Galileo saw no need for this, at all. But, for authorities, pure data is too uncertain and unpredictable, of course. I doubt Galileo would have particularly cared for Newton's Principia, if he'd lived to see it. Too many assumptions. I strongly suspect he would have thoroughly loathed Einstein's Theory of Relativity. It assumes the existing electromagnetic spectrum is all there is and can possibly be, thus pretty much putting an end to possible progress in physics, assuming it is true. Not really Galileo's cup of tea, at all. But, of course, very popular with authorities, institutions, academics. Very stable, and predictable. So, I would say that had Galileo admired and respected Aristotle, he simply wouldn't have been Galileo and wouldn't have made any of his discoveries. I suppose someone else would have, eventually. Some other strict empiricist, who got on the nerves of the authorities. Any thoughts?