Lazzaro Spallanzani

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Lazzaro Spallanzani

Lazzaro Spallanzani (born January 12, 1729 in Scandiano , now the province of Reggio Emilia , † February 12, 1799 in Pavia ) was an Italian priest , philosopher , physicist and universal scientist .

Life

Spallanzani was initially trained by his father, a lawyer. At the age of 15 he was sent to a Jesuit college in Reggio Emilia, where he was taught ancient languages ​​and natural sciences, and invited to join the order. However, supported by a grant from the Bishop of Reggio, he went to study law at the University of Bologna , where his cousin Laura Bassi was a professor of physics and in whose salon he met numerous scientists such as Antonio Vallisneri ; usually its scientific impetus has been attributed to their influence. He soon gave up law studies and entered the Jesuit order. With Bassi he studied natural philosophy and mathematics . He also devoted himself to languages. At the age of 25 he became a doctor of philosophy .

His reputation soon grew and in 1754 he became Professor of Logic, Metaphysics and Greek at the University of Reggio . In 1762 he was ordained a priest . A year later he was called to Modena , where he taught with great conscientiousness and with great success at the university , but devoted all of his free time to science . He turned down many offers from other Italian universities and from Saint Petersburg until in 1768 he accepted Maria Theresa's offer to the chair of natural history at the philosophical faculty of the University of Pavia . In 1769 he was elected a corresponding member of the Göttingen Academy of Sciences .

At the same time he also became director of the Natural History Museum of Pavia, which he enriched with his collections from many trips along the Mediterranean coasts. In addition to his lectures and scientific experiments, he still read Holy Mass every day in his capacity as a priest . In 1785 he was invited to Padua , but his sovereign doubled his salary to keep him and allowed him to visit the Ottoman Empire . He stayed there for almost a year and made many observations, including in a copper mine in Chalki and an iron mine in Principi . His return home was almost like a triumphal procession: in Vienna he was warmly received by Joseph II , and when he reached Pavia he was greeted outside the city gates by the students of the university with applause. During the following year his student numbers exceeded 500. His integrity in running the museum was questioned, but an in-depth investigation restored his honor, even to the satisfaction of his accusers.

Discoveries in the field of volcanology and meteorology

In 1788 he visited Vesuvius , the volcanoes on the Aeolian Islands and Sicily . He presented the results of this research in his great work Viaggi alle due Sicilie ed in alcune parti dell'Apennino , which was published four years later.

Monument in Scandiano

His tireless commitment as a traveler, his skill and luck as a collector, his talent as a teacher and commentator and his passion for controversy undoubtedly contributed significantly to establishing Spallanzani's extraordinary fame among his contemporaries; however, it was by no means lacking in greater qualities. His life was marked by a relentless eagerness to question nature in every way, and his many and varied works all bear the stamp of an original genius, able to pose and solve problems in all branches of science. Among other things, he helped to lay the foundations of modern volcanology and meteorology .

Discoveries in the field of physiology

His most important discoveries are in the field of physiology : for example, he wrote valuable treatises on breathing and the sensory organs of bats , while, a staunch supporter of ovism , he made experiments (1768) to refute the occurrence of spontaneous generation by In contrast to John Turberville Needham (1713–1781) he demonstrated that microbes cannot develop in organic liquids if these are boiled and kept in airtight containers. His most famous work is Dissertazioni di fisica animale e vegetale (2 volumes, 1780). In it he interprets the digestive process for the first time; it shows that this is not a purely mechanical process for crushing, but a chemical one and is mainly preceded by the action of the gastric juice . In the work " Dell 'azione del cuore nei vasi " published in 1768 , which Spallanzani dedicated to Albrecht von Haller , Spallanzani demonstrated the connection between the speed of blood flow and the width of the vessels.

Spallanzani also carried out important research on the fertilization of animals (1780). In 1768 he discovered the ability of the salamander to regenerate with regard to torn limbs.

Spallanzani was a member of many scientific societies and academies. He was a friend and correspondent of Albrecht von Hallers and Charles Bonnets .

E. T. A. Hoffmann , who was interested in Spallanzani's research, lets the figure of Spallanzani appear several times (in the less common spelling Spalanzani).

Honors

Fonts

Dissertazioni di fisica animale e vegetabile , 1780
  • Dell'azione del cuore nei vasi (1768)
  • Opusculi de fisica animale e vegetabile (Modena 1776)
  • Dissertazioni di fisica animale e vegetale (1780)
  • Viaggi alle due Sicilie ed in alcune parti dell 'Appenino (1792)
  • De lapidibus from aqua resilentibus (~ 1750)

literature

Web links

Wikisource: Lazzaro Spallanzani  - Sources and full texts
Commons : Lazzaro Spallanzani  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. Barbara I. Tshisuaka: Spallanzani, Lazzaro. In: Werner E. Gerabek , Bernhard D. Haage, Gundolf Keil , Wolfgang Wegner (eds.): Enzyklopädie Medizingeschichte. De Gruyter, Berlin / New York 2005, ISBN 3-11-015714-4 , p. 1346.
  2. Barbara I. Tshisuaka (2005), p. 1346.
  3. Spallanzani - Uomo e scienziato (1729-1799)
  4. Holger Krahnke: The members of the Academy of Sciences in Göttingen 1751-2001 (= Treatises of the Academy of Sciences in Göttingen, Philological-Historical Class. Volume 3, Vol. 246 = Treatises of the Academy of Sciences in Göttingen, Mathematical-Physical Class. Episode 3, vol. 50). Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2001, ISBN 3-525-82516-1 , p. 229.
  5. a b c Francesco Trevisani: Lazzaro Spallanzani. In: Wolfgang U. Eckart , Christoph Gradmann (Hrsg.): Ärztelexikon. From antiquity to the present. CH Beck'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung Munich 1995, pp. 338-340; 2nd edition 2001, pp. 295-296; 3rd edition 2006 Springer Verlag Heidelberg, Berlin / New York, p. 308. Ärztelexikon 2006 , doi : 10.1007 / 978-3-540-29585-3 .
  6. ^ List of members since 1666: Letter S. Académie des sciences, accessed on March 4, 2020 (French).
  7. Lotte Burkhardt: Directory of eponymous plant names - Extended Edition. Part I and II. Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum Berlin , Freie Universität Berlin , Berlin 2018, ISBN 978-3-946292-26-5 doi: 10.3372 / epolist2018 .
  8. Storia dell'Istituto. INMI, accessed March 27, 2020 (Italian).