Giuseppe Saverio Poli

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Giuseppe Saverio Poli

Giuseppe Saverio Poli (born October 26, 1746 in Molfetta , † April 7, 1825 in Naples ) was an Italian physicist and naturalist .

Life

Poli attended a Jesuit school and studied medicine in Padua with the Laurea degree in 1766. Afterwards he was a doctor in Molfetta for a short time. In 1770 he settled in Naples and taught geography and history at the military academy (Scuola militare Nunziatella). He won the trust of King Ferdinand and instructed the Crown Prince Franz . Poli wore a military uniform of the rank of lieutenant. He turned to physics, made sure that the academy purchased physical equipment (and was director of the physical cabinet) and made contact with renowned scientists in Europe. He became a physics professor at the University of Naples , undertook experiments on static electricity, encouraged by Benjamin Franklin , but partially criticizing him. Poli was therefore attacked by the Neapolitan mathematician Gian Gaetano del Muscio, who suspected a relapse to Cartesian ideas.

In addition to physics, he published on a wide variety of subjects, from meteorology (lightning, thunder) to geology and zoology. He wrote a textbook on experimental physics that has seen several new editions.

Poli collected mussels and snails as well as butterflies. His collection later formed the basis of that of the Zoological Museum in Naples (alongside the royal collection). His work Testacea utriusque Siciliae described the mollusks in the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. He wrote the work with his assistant Stefano Delle Chiaje (1794–1860). Several first descriptions of mussels come from him ( Pseudamussium clavatum , Talochlamys multistriata ). Vesicles in the vascular system of echinoderms that he discovered are named after him.

Poli, Testacea Utriusque Siciliae eorumque historia et anatome tabulis 1799

He also wrote poems (Viaggio celeste, 1805).

He was a member of the Accademia dei XL . In 1779 he was elected a member ( Fellow ) of the Royal Society . From 1808 he was a corresponding member of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences .

Fonts

  • La formazione del tuono, dellafolore e di varie altre meteore giuste le idee del signor Franklin, Naples 1772 (The formation of thunder, lightning and meteors according to Franklin's idea)
  • Riflessioni intorno agli effetti di alcuni fulmini, Naples 1773
  • Continuazione delle riflessioni intorno agli effetti di alcuni fulmini, Naples 1774
  • Lezioni di geografia e di storia militare, 2 volumes, Naples: Di Simone 1774, 1776.
  • Testacea utriusque Siciliae eorumque historia et anatome tabulis aeneis illustrata, 3 volumes, Parma 1791–1827
  • with Antonio Fabris, Vincenzo Dandolo (1758–1819): Elementi di fisica sperimentale, 6 volumes, Venice 1793, 1794
  • Memoria sul tremuoto de '26 luglio del corrente anno 1805, Naples 1806
  • Breve saggio sulla calamita e sulla sua virtù medicinale, Palermo 1811

literature

  • Antonio Borrelli:  Poli, Giuseppe Saverio. In: Raffaele Romanelli (ed.): Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani (DBI). Volume 84:  Pio VI – Ponzo. Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana, Rome 2015.
  • G. Nicolucci, Sulla vita e sulle opere di Giuseppe Saverio Poli, Memorie Societa Italiana delle Scienze, Naples 1881

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Edvige Schettino, Franklinists in Naples in the 18th Century (PDF; 50.3 kB; English)
  2. ^ Family Pectinidae - scallops
  3. ^ Entry on Poli, Joseph (1746 - 1825) in the archives of the Royal Society , London


personal data
SURNAME Poli, Giuseppe Saverio
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Italian physicist and naturalist
DATE OF BIRTH October 26, 1746
PLACE OF BIRTH Molfetta
DATE OF DEATH April 7, 1825
Place of death Naples