Antonio Pacinotti (17 June 1841 – 24 March 1912) was an Italian

physicist A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe. Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate caus ...

, who was Professor of Physics 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 ...

Biography

Pacinotti was born in

Pisa Pisa ( , or ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for its leaning tower, the cit ...

, where he also died. He was the son of Luigi Pacinotti and Caterina Catanti, attended the ''istituto arcivescovile Santa Caterina'', and took part in the second war of Italian independence as ''sergente volontario''. He was a student of

Carlo Matteucci Carlo Matteucci (20 or 21 June 1811 – 25 June 1868) was an Italian physicist and neurophysiologist who was a pioneer in the study of bioelectricity. Biography Carlo Matteucci was born at Forlì, in the province of Romagna, to Vincenzo Matt ...

and graduated in mathematics at Pisa under Riccardo Felici. He was appointed as assistant to the astronomer

Giovanni Battista Donati Giovanni Battista Donati (; 16 December 182620 September 1873) was an Italian astronomer. Donati graduated from the university of his native city, Pisa, and afterwards joined the staff of the Observatory of Florence in 1852. He was appointed d ...

in 1862, professor at the technological institute of

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 ...

in 1864, professor of physics at the

University of Cagliari The University of Cagliari ( it, Università degli Studi di Cagliari) is a university in Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy. It was founded in 1606 and is organized in 11 faculties. History The ''Studium Generalis Kalaritanum'' was founded in 1606 alon ...

in 1873, and, finally, successor to his father in 1881 in the chair of technological physics at the

. Among his students was

Augusto Righi Augusto Righi (27 August 1850 – 8 June 1920) was an Italian physicist and a pioneer in the study of electromagnetism. He was born and died in Bologna. Biography Born in Bologna, Righi was educated in his home town, taught physics at Bologn ...

. Pacinotti died in Pisa.

Scientific studies and invention of the dynamo

He is best known for inventing an improved form of

direct-current Direct current (DC) is one-directional flow of electric charge. An electrochemical cell is a prime example of DC power. Direct current may flow through a conductor such as a wire, but can also flow through semiconductors, insulators, or even ...

electrical generator In electricity generation, a generator is a device that converts motive power (mechanical energy) or fuel-based power (chemical energy) into electric power for use in an external circuit. Sources of mechanical energy include steam turbines, gas ...

, or

dynamo file:DynamoElectricMachinesEndViewPartlySection USP284110.png, "Dynamo Electric Machine" (end view, partly section, ) A dynamo is an electrical generator that creates direct current using a commutator (electric), commutator. Dynamos were the f ...

, which he built in 1860 and described in a paper published in ''

Il Nuovo Cimento ''Nuovo Cimento'' is a series of peer-reviewed scientific journals of physics. The series was first established in 1855, when Carlo Matteucci and Raffaele Piria started publishing ''Il Nuovo Cimento'' as the continuation of ''Il Cimento'', wh ...

'' of 1865. It used a ring armature around which was wrapped a coil of wire, to produce a smoother current than that available from previous types of dynamo. He found that the device could also be used as an

electric motor An electric motor is an Electric machine, electrical machine that converts electrical energy into mechanical energy. Most electric motors operate through the interaction between the motor's magnetic field and electric current in a Electromagneti ...

. In July 1862, Pacinotti was one of several independent discoverers of the

comet A comet is an icy, small Solar System body that, when passing close to the Sun, warms and begins to release gases, a process that is called outgassing. This produces a visible atmosphere or coma, and sometimes also a tail. These phenomena ar ...

109P/Swift-Tuttle. Lungarno Pacinotti, an embankment of the

Arno River The Arno is a river in the Tuscany region of Italy. It is the most important river of central Italy after the Tiber. Source and route The river originates on Monte Falterona in the Casentino area of the Apennines, and initially takes a s ...

in Pisa, is named after him.LUNGARNO PACINOTTI
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References

External links

*
Anthology of Italian Physics, entry for Antonio Pacinotti, from the website of the University of Pavia

La prima macchina dinamo-motore di Antonio Pacinotti
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pacinotti, Antonio 1841 births 1912 deaths 19th-century Italian physicists 19th-century Italian astronomers 19th-century Italian inventors People associated with electricity University of Cagliari faculty University of Pisa faculty