Person: Poleni, Giovanni
Giovanni Poleni was an Italian mathematician who worked on hydraulics, physics, astronomy and archaeology.
Mathematical Profile (Excerpt):
- As a young man Poleni showed brilliance in a wide variety of different subjects and it was clear that he was extraordinarily talented.
- based on reports that Poleni had received of those of Pascal and Leibniz.
- Poleni actually built this machine which was reportedly very simple and easy to operate; but when he heard of another machine presented to the Emperor by the Viennese mechanician Brauer, he destroyed his own and never rebuilt it.
- Poleni was invited by the Venetian Senate to investigate the problem of hydraulics relating to the irrigation of Lower Lombardy.
- But Poleni had also to worry about the river flooding, so his irrigation schemes had to have constructions to control floods.
- Poleni was familiar with the new differential and integral calculus and with the natural philosophy of Newton.
- A fascinating glimpse of the topics which interested Poleni are seen from his correspondence with Jacopo Riccati who was also based in the Venetian region.
- The topics which Poleni taught at the University of Padua reflect his interests and the different chairs to which he was appointed.
- In 1738 Poleni acquired a laboratory to conduct physics experiments: his Teatro di Filosofia Sperimentale.
- Some were purchased but most were made in Venice or Padua to Poleni's own specifications.
- Around 100 of Poleni's instruments still survive and can be seen in a Museum at Padua.
- This laboratory gained Poleni international fame.
- In 1741 Poleni published Institutionum philosophiae mechanicae specimen.
- Pope Benedict XIV summoned Poleni to Rome in 1743 to see if he could solve the problem of the cupola of St Peter's which seemed to be near to collapsing.
- The task was carried out with the aid of an instrument from Poleni's laboratory, a macchina divulsoria designed to determine the tensile strength of materials.
- We mention in particular Utriusque thesauri antiquitatum romanarum graecarumque nova supplementa Ⓣ(new supplies of both the treasures of the ancient times of the Roman graecarumque) (1737), and Exercitationes Vitruvianae primae, hoc est Ioannis Poleni Commentarius criticus de M Vitruvii Pollionis Architecti X Ⓣ(Vitruvius's first examples: Poleni's critical commentary of Vitruvius's Architecture X) (1739).
Born 23 August 1683, Venice, Venetian States (now Italy). Died 15 November 1761, Padua, Venetian States (now Italy).
View full biography at MacTutor
Tags relevant for this person:
Architecture, Astronomy, Origin Italy
Thank you to the contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0! 
- Github:
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- non-Github:
- @J-J-O'Connor
- @E-F-Robertson
References
Adapted from other CC BY-SA 4.0 Sources:
- O’Connor, John J; Robertson, Edmund F: MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive
