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Giovanni Alfonso Borelli.
Giovanni Alfonso Borelli.

Giovanni Alfonso Borelli (Pisa January 28, 1608 - December 31, 1679) was a Renaissance Italian physiologist, physicist and mathematician. Pisa is a city in Tuscany, central Italy, on the right bank of the mouth of the Arno River on the Ligurian Sea. Events 1077 - Walk to Canossa: The Excommunication of Henry IV Holy Roman Emperor is lifted Events 406 – Vandals, Alans and Suebians cross the Rhine, beginning an invasion of Gallia. The Renaissance (from French Renaissance, meaning "rebirth" Italian: Rinascimento, from re- "again" and nascere Italy (Italia officially the Italian Republic, (Repubblica Italiana is located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe, and on the two largest Physiology (from Greek grc φύσις physis, "nature origin" and grc -λογία -logia) is the study of the mechanical physical A physicist is a Scientist who studies or practices Physics. Physicists study a wide range of physical phenomena in many branches of physics spanning A mathematician is a person whose primary area of study and research is the field of Mathematics. He contributed to the modern principle of scientific investigation by continuing Galileo's custom of testing hypotheses against observation. Galileo Galilei (15 February 1564 &ndash 8 January 1642 was a Tuscan ( Italian) Physicist, Mathematician, Astronomer, and Philosopher Trained in mathematics, Borelli also made extensive studies of Jupiter's moons and, in microscopy, of the constituents of blood. Microscopy is the technical field of using microscopes to view samples or objects Blood is a specialized Bodily fluid that delivers necessary substances to the body's cells such as nutrients and oxygen—and transports Waste products He also used microscopy to investigate the stomatal movement of plants, and undertook studies in medicine and geology. In Botany, a stoma (also stomate; plural stomata) is a tiny opening or pore found mostly on the underside of a Plant Leaf During his career, he enjoyed the protection of Queen Christina of Sweden, which sheltered him from the attacks from the Italian authorities suffered by Galileo. Christina (Kristina Augusta ( – 19 April 1689 later known as Christina Alexandra and sometimes Countess Dohna, was Galileo Galilei (15 February 1564 &ndash 8 January 1642 was a Tuscan ( Italian) Physicist, Mathematician, Astronomer, and Philosopher

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Biography

Giovanni Borelli was born January 28, 1608 in Castel Nuovo, Italy, a village on the outskirts of Naples. Naples ( Napoli, Neapolitan: Nàpule) is a historic City in southern Italy, the Capital of the He was the son of Spanish infantryman Miguel Alonso and a local woman named Laura Porello (alternately Porelli or Borelli. )

Borelli eventually traveled to Rome to study, matriculating in mathematics. Mathematics is the body of Knowledge and Academic discipline that studies such concepts as Quantity, Structure, Space and Sometime before 1640 he was appointed Professor of Mathematics at Messina. In the early 1640's, he met Galileo Galilei in Florence. Galileo Galilei (15 February 1564 &ndash 8 January 1642 was a Tuscan ( Italian) Physicist, Mathematician, Astronomer, and Philosopher Florence ( Italian: Firenze Florentia and Fiorenza) is the Capital City of the Italian region of Tuscany While it is likely that they remained acquaintances, Galileo rejected considerations to nominate Borelli as head of Mathematics at the University of Pisa when he left the post himself. The University of Pisa ( Italian Università di Pisa) is one of the most renowned Italian universities Borelli would attain this post in 1656. It was there that he first met the Italian anatomist Marcello Malpighi. Marcello Malpighi ( March 10, 1628 - September 30, 1694) was an Italian doctor who gave his name to several physiological features

Borelli and Malpighi were both founder-members of the short-lived Accademia del Cimento, an Italian scientific academy founded in 1657. The Accademia del Cimento (Academy of Experiment an early scientific society, was founded in Florence 1657 by students of Galileo, Evangelista It was here that Borelli, piqued by Malpighi's own studies, began his first investigations into the science of animal movement, or biomechanics. Biomechanics is the application of mechanical principles on living organisms This began an interest that would continue for the rest of his life, eventually earning him the title of the Father of Biomechanics. Borelli's involvement in the Accademia was temporary and the organization itself disbanded shortly after he left.

Borelli returned to Messina in 1668 but was quickly forced into exile for suspected involvement in political conspiracies. Here he first became acquainted with ex-Queen Christina of Sweden who had also been exiled to Rome for converting to Catholicism. Christina (Kristina Augusta ( – 19 April 1689 later known as Christina Alexandra and sometimes Countess Dohna, was As a Christian Ecclesiastical term Catholic —from the Greek adjective, meaning "general" or "universal"—is described Borelli lived the rest of his years in poverty, teaching basic mathematics at the school of the convent where he had been allowed to live. He never saw the publication of his masterwork, De Motu Animalium (On the Movement of Animals) as it was published posthumously, financed by Christina and his benefactors at the convent.

Sociopolitical Climate

In 1542, the Congregation of the Holy Office (now known as the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith) was created by Pope Paul III to facilitate in the inquisition of heresy. The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF ( Congregatio pro Doctrina Fidei) previously known as the Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Holy Office, Pope Paul III ( February 29, 1468 &ndash November 10, 1549) born Alessandro Farnese, was Pope of the Roman This institution had influence in philosophy, mathematics, and science. The Holy Office was designed to protect the Catholic faith from ideas that were viewed as damaging to the Church. Its effects continued through the time of Borelli and on to modern times. The office was a well-structured, localized system that targeted new ideas considered to be dangerous by the Church. In addition to containing these ideas, the Holy Office could also punish the offending parties who brought the ideas into the public domain. This institution was one of many ways in which the Catholic Church responded to the Protestant Reformation of the sixteenth century. The Protestant Reformation was a reform movement in Europe that began in 1517 though its roots lie further back in time

Although Borelli lived and worked within this climate, the Holy Office did not hinder his work, perhaps because the Church did not find his work to be damaging to the faith. His work, and the work of many others, however, may still have been influenced by the Holy Office’s treatment of his contemporaries, such as Galileo Galilei and Nicolas Steno. Galileo Galilei (15 February 1564 &ndash 8 January 1642 was a Tuscan ( Italian) Physicist, Mathematician, Astronomer, and Philosopher Nicolas Steno ( Danish: Niels Stensen; Latinized to Nicolaus Stenonis) ( January 10, 1638 - November 25, His work resembled that of many of his contemporaries in that he started to adhere to the rules of scientific exploration that are used in modern times, that is, building hypotheses and theories based on observations in the natural world, and then testing them.

Scientific Achievements

Borelli’s major scientific achievements are focused around his investigation into biomechanics. Biomechanics is the application of mechanical principles on living organisms This work originated with his studies of animals. His publications, De Motu Animalium I and De Motu Animalium II, relate animals to machines and utilize mathematics to prove his theories. The anatomists of the 17th century were the first to suggest the contractile movement of muscles. As a means of recording the passage of Time, the 17th Century was that Century which lasted from 1601 - 1700 in the Gregorian calendar Borelli, however, first suggested that ‘muscles do not exercise vital movement otherwise than by contracting. ’ He was also the first to deny corpuscular influence on the movements of muscles. This was proven through his scientific experiments demonstrating that living muscle did not release corpuscles into water when cut. Borelli also recognized that forward motion entailed movement of a body’s center of gravity forward, which was then followed by the swinging of its limbs in order to maintain balance. His studies also extended beyond muscle and locomotion. In particular he likened the action of the heart to that of a piston. For this to work properly he derived the idea that the arteries have be elastic. For these discoveries, Borelli is labeled as the father of modern biomechanics. Biomechanics is the application of mechanical principles on living organisms

Along with his work on biomechanics, Borelli also had interests in physics, specifically the orbits of the planets. Biomechanics is the application of mechanical principles on living organisms Physics (Greek Physis - φύσις in everyday terms is the Science of Matter and its motion. A planet, as defined by the International Astronomical Union (IAU is a celestial body Orbiting a Star or stellar remnant that is Borelli believed that the planets were revolving as a result of three forces. A planet, as defined by the International Astronomical Union (IAU is a celestial body Orbiting a Star or stellar remnant that is The first force involved the planets' desire to approach the sun. The second force dictated that the planets were propelled to the side by impulses from sunlight, which is corporeal. Finally, the third force impelled the planets outward due to the sun’s revolution. The result of these forces is similar to a stone’s orbit when tied on a string.

Borelli also wrote:

References

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