Girolamo Borro (1512 – 26 August 1592) latinized as Hieronomyus Borrius was an Italian philosopher and a professor at the

University of Pisa The University of Pisa ( it, Università di Pisa, UniPi), officially founded in 1343, is one of the oldest universities in Europe. History The Origins The University of Pisa was officially founded in 1343, although various scholars place ...

. He belonged to a group of natural philosophers who rejected appeals to the supernatural and occult to explain phenomena. He is thought to have influenced Galileo and Borro's ideas were published in dialogue form in a book on tides ''Dialogo del flusso e reflusso del mare'' (1561). Another book by Borro was on moving bodies, ''De motu gravium et levium'' (1575). He also authored some manuscripts including ''Multae sunt nostrarum ignorationum causae.'' Borro was born in

Arezzo Arezzo ( , , ) , also ; ett, 𐌀𐌓𐌉𐌕𐌉𐌌, Aritim. is a city and ''comune'' in Italy and the capital of the province of the same name located in Tuscany. Arezzo is about southeast of Florence at an elevation of above sea level. ...

to Mariano and was educated at Padua. A patron of his was Cardinal

Giovanni Salviati Giovanni Salviati (24 March 1490 – 28 October 1553) was a Republic of Florence, Florentine diplomat and Cardinal (Catholicism), cardinal. He was papal legate in France, and conducted negotiations with the Emperor Charles V. Biography Salvia ...

and after his death he held a chair in philosophy at Pisa with colleagues like Selvaggio Ghettini. Like several other Tuscan philosophers of the period including

Andrea Cesalpino Andrea Cesalpino ( Latinized as Andreas Cæsalpinus) (6 June 1524 – 23 February 1603) was a Florentine physician, philosopher and botanist. In his works he Taxonomy (biology), classified plants according to their fruits and seeds, rather th ...

and Francesco Buonamici he rejected the use of theology to explain natural phenomena. He was brought into the heresy trial of

Pietro Carnesecchi Pietro Carnesecchi (24 December 1508 – 1 October 1567) was an Italian humanist. Biography Born in Florence, he was the son of a da Andrea Carnesecchi, a merchant who under the patronage of the Medici, and especially of Giulio de' Medici a ...

in 1567 and during the Roman inquisition of 1582 but was cleared by influence from

Pope Gregory XIII Pope Gregory XIII ( la, Gregorius XIII; it, Gregorio XIII; 7 January 1502 – 10 April 1585), born Ugo Boncompagni, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 13 May 1572 to his death in April 1585. He is best known for ...

. He taught philosophy at the

during Galileo's student days. Two of the books that Borro wrote were in Galileo's library and may have influenced his writings, as there is an explicit citation to Borro's 1575 book. Borro himself drew his ideas from Greek and Arab thinkers and did not cite any theological writings. He claimed that God was only involved in conceiving and loving himself and not bothered by earthly or human matters. His explanation of the tides was based on the idea that the moon heated and caused an expansion of the water. He also emphasized the use of experiments in addition to experience as methods for gaining knowledge. He used the phrase ''"periculum facere"'' for his trials such as those that involved simultaneously dropping a piece of wood and an equal weight of lead from a height to examine which fell first. Borro died in

Perugia Perugia (, , ; lat, Perusia) is the capital city of Umbria in central Italy, crossed by the River Tiber, and of the province of Perugia. The city is located about north of Rome and southeast of Florence. It covers a high hilltop and part o ...

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Biographical notes

De motu gravium et levium
(1575)
Del Flusso e Reflusso del Mare, e dell'Inondatione del Nilo, alla Sereniss
(1577)
De peripatetica docendi atque addiscendi methodo
(1584) {{DEFAULTSORT:Borro, Girolamo 1512 births 1592 deaths Natural philosophers