Giovanni Poleni (b. Venice, around 1683; d.
Padua
Padua ( ; it, Padova ; vec, Pàdova) is a city and ''comune'' in Veneto, northern Italy. Padua is on the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice. It is the capital of the province of Padua. It is also the economic and communications hub of the ...
, Nov., 1761) was a
Marquess
A marquess (; french: marquis ), es, marqués, pt, marquês. is a nobleman of high hereditary rank in various European peerages and in those of some of their former colonies. The German language equivalent is Markgraf (margrave). A woman ...
, physicist, mathematician and antiquarian.
Early life
He was the son of Marquess Jacopo Poleni and studied the classics, philosophy, theology, mathematics, and physics at the School of the
Padri Somaschi, Venice.
Career
He was appointed, at the age of twenty-five, professor of astronomy at Padua. In 1715 he was assigned to the chair of physics, and in 1719 he succeeded
Nicholas II Bernoulli as professor of mathematics. As an expert in
hydraulic engineering
Hydraulic engineering as a sub-discipline of civil engineering is concerned with the flow and conveyance of fluids, principally water and sewage. One feature of these systems is the extensive use of gravity as the motive force to cause the m ...
he was charged by the Venetian Senate with the care of the waters of lower
Lombardy
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and with the constructions necessary to prevent floods. He was also repeatedly called in to decide cases between sovereigns whose states were bordered by waterways.
Poleni was the first to build a
calculator that used a pinwheel design. Made of wood, his ''calculating clock'' was built in 1709; he destroyed it after hearing that
Antonius Braun
Antonius is a masculine given name, as well as a surname. Antonius is a Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Latin, Norwegian, and Swedish name used in Greenland, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, part of the Republic of Karelia, Estonia, Belgium, Netherlan ...
had received 10,000
Guldens for dedicating a pinwheel machine of his own design to the emperor
Charles VI of Vienna. Poleni described his machine in his ''Miscellanea'' in 1709, but it was also described by
Jacob Leupold
Jacob Leupold (22 July 1674 – 12 January 1727) was a German physicist, mathematician, instrument maker, mining commissioner and engineer. He wrote the seminal book ''Theatrum Machinarum Generale'' ("The General Theory of Machines").
Early lif ...
in his ''Theatrum Machinarum Generale'' ("The General Theory of Machines") which was published in 1727. In 1729, he also built a tractional device that enabled
logarithm
In mathematics, the logarithm is the inverse function to exponentiation. That means the logarithm of a number to the base is the exponent to which must be raised, to produce . For example, since , the ''logarithm base'' 10 ...
ic
function
Function or functionality may refer to:
Computing
* Function key, a type of key on computer keyboards
* Function model, a structured representation of processes in a system
* Function object or functor or functionoid, a concept of object-oriente ...
s to be drawn.
Poleni's observations on the impact of falling weights (similar to
Willem 's Gravesande
Willem Jacob 's Gravesande (26 September 1688 – 28 February 1742) was a Dutch mathematician and natural philosopher, chiefly remembered for developing experimental demonstrations of the laws of classical mechanics and the first experimental m ...
's) led to a controversy with
Samuel Clarke
Samuel Clarke (11 October 1675 – 17 May 1729) was an English philosopher and Anglican cleric. He is considered the major British figure in philosophy between John Locke and George Berkeley.
Early life and studies
Clarke was born in Norwich, ...
and other Newtonians that became a part of the so-called "
''vis viva'' dispute" in the history of
classical mechanics
Classical mechanics is a physical theory describing the motion of macroscopic objects, from projectiles to parts of machinery, and astronomical objects, such as spacecraft, planets, stars, and galaxies. For objects governed by classi ...
.
His knowledge of architecture caused
Benedict XIV
Pope Benedict XIV ( la, Benedictus XIV; it, Benedetto XIV; 31 March 1675 – 3 May 1758), born Prospero Lorenzo Lambertini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 17 August 1740 to his death in May 1758. Pope ...
to call him to Rome in 1748 to examine the
cupola
In architecture, a cupola () is a relatively small, most often dome-like, tall structure on top of a building. Often used to provide a lookout or to admit light and air, it usually crowns a larger roof or dome.
The word derives, via Italian, f ...
of
St. Peter's, which was rapidly disintegrating.
As part of the structural investigation of the dome he used a correctly loaded hanging chain to determine its funicular shape. He promptly indicated the repairs necessary. He also wrote a number of
antiquarian
An antiquarian or antiquary () is an fan (person), aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient artifact (archaeology), artifac ...
dissertations. In 1710 he was elected a
Fellow of the Royal Society
Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural knowledge, including mathemati ...
,
in 1739 the
French Academy of Sciences
The French Academy of Sciences (French: ''Académie des sciences'') is a learned society, founded in 1666 by Louis XIV at the suggestion of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, to encourage and protect the spirit of French scientific research. It was at ...
made him a member and later the societies of Berlin and St. Petersburg did the same. The city of Padua elected him as magistrate, and after his death erected his statue by
Canova
Antonio Canova (; 1 November 1757 – 13 October 1822) was an Italian Neoclassical sculptor, famous for his marble sculptures. Often regarded as the greatest of the Neoclassical artists,. his sculpture was inspired by the Baroque and the cl ...
. Venice also honoured him by striking a medal.
He married Orsola Roberti of Bassano della Grappa.
Principal works
*
*
*''Miscellanea'' (dissertations on physics), Venice, 1709;
*
*
*
*
* ''De castellis per quæ derivantur fluviorum latera convergentia'', Padua, 1720;
*
*
*
*''Exercitationes Vitruvianæ'' Venice, 1739;
*
*''Il tempio di Diana di Efeso'' (The Temple of Diana at
Ephesus
Ephesus (; grc-gre, Ἔφεσος, Éphesos; tr, Efes; may ultimately derive from hit, 𒀀𒉺𒊭, Apaša) was a city in ancient Greece on the coast of Ionia, southwest of present-day Selçuk in İzmir Province, Turkey. It was built i ...
); Venice, 1742.
*
*
*
File:Poleni-1.jpg, Title page to ''De Castellis per quae derivantur fluviorum aquae habentibus latera convergentia liber'' (1718)
File:Poleni-4.jpg, First page to ''De Castellis per quae derivantur fluviorum aquae habentibus latera convergentia liber'' (1718)
File:Poleni-5.jpg, Figure from ''De Castellis per quae derivantur fluviorum aquae habentibus latera convergentia liber'' (1718)
References
Further reading
;* C. Le Gall, ''Giovanni Poleni (1683-1761) et l’essor de la technologie maritime au siècle des Lumières,'' Brepols (Turnhout), 2019, 578 p.
;Attribution
*. Cites:
**ANON, ''Memorie per la vita del Signor G. P.'' (Padua, 1762);
**FOUCHY, ''Eloge, Mém. de l'ac. des Sc. hist.'' (Paris, 1763).
External links
Biography from MacTutorGuide to Giovanni Poleni, Specifications and Drawings of the Poleni Calculating Machine by Joannis Poleni 1927at th
University of Chicago Special Collections Research Center
{{DEFAULTSORT:Poleni, G
1683 births
1761 deaths
18th-century Latin-language writers
18th-century Italian male writers
Italian antiquarians
18th-century Italian physicists
Fellows of the Royal Society
Members of the Prussian Academy of Sciences
Members of the French Academy of Sciences
University of Padua faculty