Giovanni Giuseppe Bianconi, sometimes J. Josephi or Joseph Bianconi, (31 July 1809 in

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nat ...

– 18 October 1878 in Bologna) was an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

zoologist Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the Animal, animal kingdom, including the anatomy, structure, embryology, evolution, Biological clas ...

herpetologist Herpetology (from Greek ἑρπετόν ''herpetón'', meaning "reptile" or "creeping animal") is the branch of zoology concerned with the study of amphibians (including frogs, toads, salamanders, newts, and caecilians (gymnophiona)) and rept ...

botanist Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek wo ...

and

geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the solid, liquid, and gaseous matter that constitutes Earth and other terrestrial planets, as well as the processes that shape them. Geologists usually study geology, earth science, or geophysics, althou ...

Career

Bianconi was a Professor of Natural History at the

University of Bologna The University of Bologna ( it, Alma Mater Studiorum – Università di Bologna, UNIBO) is a public research university in Bologna, Italy. Founded in 1088 by an organised guild of students (''studiorum''), it is the oldest university in continuo ...

. In the field of

herpetology Herpetology (from Greek ἑρπετόν ''herpetón'', meaning "reptile" or "creeping animal") is the branch of zoology concerned with the study of amphibians (including frogs, toads, salamanders, newts, and caecilians (gymnophiona)) and rept ...

he described several new species of

amphibians Amphibians are four-limbed and ectothermic vertebrates of the class Amphibia. All living amphibians belong to the group Lissamphibia. They inhabit a wide variety of habitats, with most species living within terrestrial, fossorial, arbore ...

and

reptiles Reptiles, as most commonly defined are the animals in the Class (biology), class Reptilia ( ), a paraphyletic grouping comprising all sauropsid, sauropsids except birds. Living reptiles comprise turtles, crocodilians, Squamata, squamates (lizar ...

. In 1874, Bianconi published a book on "independent creations", which utilized zoological arguments against

Darwinism Darwinism is a scientific theory, theory of Biology, biological evolution developed by the English naturalist Charles Darwin (1809–1882) and others, stating that all species of organisms arise and develop through the natural selection of smal ...

.Kölbl-Ebert, Martina. (2009). ''Geology and Religion: A History of Harmony and Hostility''. The Geological Society. p. 270. The first edition was printed in French and contained a letter to

Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all species of life have descended fr ...

. The book sold well and Bianconi and his son Giovanni Antonio published a revised Italian edition in 1875. Bianconi argued that "enlightened application of laws of mechanics, physics, physiology" led to the conclusion that every part of an

organism In biology, an organism () is any living system that functions as an individual entity. All organisms are composed of cells (cell theory). Organisms are classified by taxonomy into groups such as multicellular animals, plants, and ...

had been created by the "unlimited intelligence" of God. Bianconi argued that

homologous structures In biology, homology is similarity due to shared ancestry between a pair of structures or genes in different taxa. A common example of homologous structures is the forelimbs of vertebrates, where the wings of bats and birds, the arms of pri ...

are explained on mechanical principles. Darwin briefly mentioned Bianconi and rejected his arguments in a footnote in his ''

The Descent of Man ''The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex'' is a book by English naturalist Charles Darwin, first published in 1871, which applies evolutionary theory to human evolution, and details his theory of sexual selection, a form of biolo ...

''.

Selected publications

*Sul sistema vascolare delle foglie considerato come carattere distintivo per la determinazione delle filliti, del Dottor Giuseppe Bianconi. Bologna, Marsigli. (1838) *''Storia naturale dei terreni ardenti, dei vulcani fangosi''. Bologna. (1840) *Specimina Zoologica Mosambicana, fasciculus IV, V. (Mollusca) Memorie della Accademia delle Scienze dell'Istituto di Bologna, volume 3, pages 3–18, 91-112, plate. (1850, 1851) *''Repertorio Italiano per la Storia Naturale. Zoologiam, Mineralogiam, Geolgiam, Palaentologiam''. Bologna. (1854)
''La Theorie Darwinienne et la creation dite independante''
(1874). An "anti"

Darwinist Darwinism is a theory of biological evolution developed by the English naturalist Charles Darwin (1809–1882) and others, stating that all species of organisms arise and develop through the natural selection of small, inherited variations tha ...

work claiming that homologous structures are explained on mechanical principles. He published numerous papers, in both Italian and Latin, in the journal ''Novi Commentarii Academiae Scientiarum Instituti Bononiensis'' (beginning in 1844) and its successor ''Memorie della Accademia delle Scienze dell'Istituto di Bologna'' (from 1850 onward).

References

*Sarjeant, William A. S. 1980-96. ''Geologists and the History of Geology: An International Bibliography''. 10 vols. including supplements. London: Macmillan. Florida: Krieger Publishing.

Career

Selected publications

See also

References

Further reading