Antonio Vallisneri
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Antonio Vallisneri
Italian physician and biologist (1661–1730)
Born at Trassilico, near Modena in Italy, Vallisneri studied medicine at Bologna under Marcello Malpighi and at Reggio where he obtained his MD in 1684. After practicing medicine in Reggio, Vallisneri was appointed to the chair of medicine at the University of Padua in 1700 where he remained until his death.
Francesco Redi in 1668 had performed a famous experiment proving that the maggots in rotten meat were not spontaneously generated but arose, in the normal manner, from eggs laid by flies. He did however spoil the force of his argument by conceding that the larvae found in galls, for which he could find no eggs, were spontaneously generated. In 1700 Vallisneri plugged this gap in his Sopra la curiosa origine di molti insetti (On the Strange Origin of Many Insects) in which he reported detecting eggs of the insects in plant galls.
In 1715 Vallisneri published Origine delle fontane (Origin of Fountains), which threw much light on another longstanding problem. Many ancient and medieval authorities were convinced that springs and rivers originated in the sea, and consequently the source of artesian wells, such as those at Modena, presented a problem. By exploring the local mountains, Vallisneri found that the rain and melting snow ran into fissures and formed subterranean rivers. Such rivers, passing under Modena at high pressure, would readily produce ‘fontane’ if deep enough shafts were sunk.
As a biologist and anatomist Vallisneri also produced a number of treatises on such unfamiliar animals as the ostrich (1712) and the chameleon (1715). His studies of a group of aquatic plants led to the genus Vallisneria being named for him.
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Antonio Vallisneri
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Antonio Vallisneri
Antonio Vallisneri (3 May 1661 – 18 January 1730) was an Italian medical scientist, physician and naturalist.
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Life
Vallisneri was born in Trassilico, a small village in Garfagnana, and graduated in medicine in 1684, in Reggio Emilia, under the guidance of Marcello Malpighi.
He studied at Bologna, Venice, Padua and Parma and held the chairs of Practical Medicine first and Theoretical Medicine later at the University of Padua between 1700 and his death.
Influenced by famous thinkers such as Leibniz and Conti he belonged to the Galilean school of experimental scientists. He worked in biology, botany, veterinary medicine, hydrology and the newly born science geology.
Vallisneri died in Padua in 1730.
Importance
He is known for being one of the first researchers in medicine to have proposed abandoning the Aristotelian theories for an experimental approach based on the scientific principles suggested by Galileo Galilei. Vallisneri stated that scientific knowledge is best acquired through experience and reasoning. This principle was followed in his anatomical dissections and carefully drawn descriptions of insects. For this reason, his medical career was at the center of heated controversy, as many of his contemporaries could not abandon prevailing medieval theories, even in the face of glaring experimental evidence.
He also was keenly interested in the natural sciences, and over his lifetime collected numerous specimens of animals, minerals and other natural objects.
He had a very clear and precise style of writing. In 1709 he joined Francesco Scipio Maffei and Apostolo Zeno in editing a literary journal, Giornale de' Letterati d'Italia, which had a brief life. Vallisneri's contribution to the use of language makes him one of the most admired science writers, in the tradition of Galilei, Francesco Redi and Lorenzo Magalotti. Vallisneri also followed Galilei's tracks in electing Italian as the language of choice for writing his treatises. This was a courageous choice in the scientific community of the time, which still used Latin as the “language of knowledge.”
Works
| Title | Year | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Perennial Springs | 1715 | On the origin of rivers, based on an exploration in the Tuscan Emilian Apennines |
| On Marine Life to be Found on Mountains | 1721 | On fossils |
| Dialoghi sopra la curiosa origine di molti Insetti | "Dialogues on the curious origin of several insects" |
Legacy
The freshwater plant genus Vallisneria commemorates him.[1]
Notes
- ^
"Vallisneria". New International Encyclopedia. 1905.
External links
- Curiosity and Ingenuity Link to a virtual exhibition of the collections of Vallisneri, held by the Museums of the University of Padova.
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