Montanari, Geminiano

Born in Modena in 1633 in the family of Giovanni Montanari and Margherita Zanasi. The early years were overshadowed by the death of his father and three brothers. Since childhood, the boy was fond of geometry, but in view of the difficult financial situation of the family, it was decided that he would study law in Florence ^[4] .

In the period 1653-1656, Montanari worked in the law firm of the lawyer Giacomo Federici, simultaneously studying the Cartesian natural philosophy and making the first scientific observations. Due to the scandalous duel in 1656, Montanari left for Salzburg , Austria , where he graduated from the faculty of civil and canon law. In the Vienna court in 1657, he met with the Florentine mathematician Paolo del Buono, one of Galileo 's last students, who introduced him to relevant mathematical and astronomical studies; together they conducted numerous physical studies on a variety of topics ^[4] .

Due to family problems, Montanari had to return to Italy in 1658. After a short stay in Modena (1659–1661), he returned to Florence, where he met the Tuscan prince, science lover and philanthropist Leopoldo Medici and members of the Academy del Cimento . In particular, he made friends with academicians Antonio Malyabeki , Francesco Redi , Nils Stensen , Vincenzo Viviani , as well as with two brothers Paolo del Buono, experienced opticians. Together they observed the recently discovered rings of Saturn ^{[5] [4]} .

In the 1660s, Montanari became not only a reputable astronomer, but also a qualified applied optician. He made many optical instruments — microscopes , lenses, telescopes, and “ magic lights .” In 1659 he married, and Elizabeth's wife became his main assistant - she could personally grind the lenses ^[4] .

In 1664, Montanari was appointed to the Department of Mathematical Sciences at the University of Bologna , where such luminaries of science as Grimaldi , Riccioli , Malpigi , Cassini and Mengoli taught. During this period, Montanari conducted a series of observations of the motion of the moon. Montanari made a very accurate map of the moon for that period, using inserts in the eyepiece of the telescope . Another topic of his research was capillarity . Montanari suggested that the viscosity of a liquid depends on the shape of its constituent particles. He was little interested in metaphysics , preferring to obtain solutions to scientific problems through experiments. In particular, he experimentally demonstrated the law of decreasing light intensity in inverse proportion to the square of the distance and estimated the resolution of the human eye (1667) ^[4] .

In 1669, Cassini went to France, and Montanari took his chair of astronomy at the University of Bologna ^[6] . One of Montanari’s duties in Bologna was to compile an astrological almanac; Montanari was skeptical of astrology and decided to make a hoax - he released an astrological almanac containing predictions chosen at random to show that predictions made by chance will be fulfilled with the same probability as those made according to the canons of astrology.

Montanari observed many comets, including the Great Comet of 1680 . Montanari’s data is mentioned twice in the third volume of Newton’s “ Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy ” ^[7] . In 1664, he measured the parallax of a comet and came to the conclusion that, contrary to Aristotle , it is much further than the moon. Montanari hypothesized that comets are not stable bodies, but are short-term condensations of the cosmic ether . Montanari was one of the first to study the phenomenon of “fireballs” ( fireballs ) and described a grand car on March 31, 1676. Montanari restored its trajectory and found that the initial height and speed of the car exclude the traditional idea of ​​the terrestrial nature of the phenomenon ^[4] .

The deteriorating financial condition of the University of Bologna and constant clashes with the Jesuits forced Montanari to accept the offer of the Venetian Republic to occupy the specially created department of "astronomy and meteors" in Padua with a payment of 400 florins per year. In 1679, Montanari moved to Padua ; information about this period of his life was almost not preserved. It is only known that in 1682 he observed the " Halley's comet ", and also was engaged in the construction of a new observatory and (on the instructions of the government) military, hydrographic and economic studies. He sharply opposed astrology and forbade its teaching at the university; in 1685 published an anti-astrological treatise " L'Astrologia convinta di falso " ^[4] .

In 1680, Montanari published Mint in the Service of the State , which aroused interest and was soon reprinted. In this work, he argued that the real measure of the value of things is people's desire ^[8] .

At the end of his life, he suffered from joint pain and vision problems. In 1683, apparently, a stroke occurred, after which Montanari partially lost the power of speech. He died in 1687 from an apoplexy strike . He was buried in Padua in the church of San Benedetto dei Monachi Olivetani ^[9] .

• Pensieri fisico-matematici (1667)
• La Livella Diottrica (The Spirit Level) (1674)
• Trattato mercantile delle monete (1680)
• Montanari, Geminiano. Pensieri fisico-matematici intorno diversi effetti de 'liquidi in cannuccie di vetro e altri vasi . - In Bologna: Emilio Maria & fratelli Manolessi, 1667.

• Montanari, Geminiano. Prostasi fisicomatematica . - In Bologna: Emilio Maria & fratelli Manolessi, 1669.

• Montanari, Geminiano. Speculazioni fisiche sopra gli effetti di que 'vetri temprati che rotti in una parte si risolvono in polvere . - In Bologna: Emilio Maria & fratelli Manolessi, 1671.

• Montanari, Geminiano. Copia di lettera scritta all'illustrissimo Gio [vanni Giuseppe Orsi]. - In Bologna: Emilio Maria & fratelli Manolessi, 1676.

• Montanari, Geminiano. Fiamma volante gran meteora veduta sopra l'Italia la sera del 31 marzo 1676 . - In Bologna: Emilio Maria & fratelli Manolessi, 1676.

• Montanari, Geminiano. Lezione academica havuta nell'Academia di sa reale in Torino il giorno 5 marzo 1678 . - In Torino, & in Bologna: Emilio Maria & fratelli Manolessi, 1678.

• Montanari, Geminiano. Copia di due lettere scritte all'illustrissimo signor Antonio Magliabechi sopra i moti, e le apparenze delle due comete ultimamente apparse sul fine di nouembre 1680, nelle costellazioni di Vergine e Libra, e sul fine di decembre in quella di Capricorno . - 1681.

• Montanari, Geminiano. Astrologia convinta di falso col mezzo di nuove esperienze e ragioni fisico-astronomiche, o 'sia La caccia del frugnuolo . - In Venetia: Francesco Nicolini, 1685.

• Montanari, Geminiano. Discorso sopra la tromba parlante del signor dottore Geminiano Montanari professore delle matematiche in Padova. Aggiontovi un trattato postumo del mare Adriatico, e sua corrente esaminata, co la naturalezza de fiumi scoperta, e con nove forme di ripari corretta . - In Venetia: per Girolamo Albrizzi, 1715.

• Kolchinsky I.G., Korsun A.A., Rodriguez M.G. Montanari Geminiano // Astronomers. Biographical reference. - Kiev: Naukova Dumka, 1977 .-- S. 380. - 416 p.
• Eremeeva A.I. J. Montanari (1633 - 1687). To the 350th anniversary of the birth // Astronomical calendar for 1983 Yearbook. Vol. 86 (1982), S. 283-284.

• MONTANARI (MONTANARI), Geminiano (1633-1687) .
• The work of Geminiano Montanari in the project "Gutenberg" (English) .
• Montanari, Geminiano (Italian) . Treccani Date of treatment July 31, 2019.
• Proceedings of Geminiano Montanari .
• "The impact of Galilean culture - From Bonaventura Cavalieri to Gian Domenico Cassini" , Bologna University, Department of Astronomy, 2004-4-10.
• Vanzo, Alberto . Experiment and Speculation in Seventeenth-Century Italy: The Case of Geminiano Montanari ', Studies in History and Philosophy of Science, 56 (2016), pp. 52-61 (English) .