Famiano Michelini
Famiano Michelini, religious name Brother Francesco di San Giuseppe, ( born August 31, 1604 Rome, † January 20, 1665 in Florence) was an Italian mathematician, engineer and clergyman ( Piarist ).
Life
Michelini studied in Genoa in the School of Piaristen whose orders he joined under the name of Francesco di San Giuseppe. His mathematics teacher was there, Antonio Santini (1557-1662), correspondent of Galileo. He was a lay brother from 1619 or 1621 ( and was first ordained in 1636 ). The Piaristen 1621 received the Order Status. In 1629 he was sent by the Piaristen to Florence, where the Order had opened a new school and where he was a math teacher. It was introduced in Florence with a letter of Giovanni Battista Baliani Galileo Galilei, was a follower of the teachings and later corresponded with Galileo. Besides his work as a teacher at the School of Piaristen he taught privately, including the brothers of Ferdinando II de ' Medici ( Cardinal Gian Carlo and Prince Leopold ). Started with private lessons he had when the Piaristen School had temporarily closed because of the plague. Through the influence of the Michelini Piaristen school became a center of the modern scientific theory in the sense of Galileo. He had the patronage of the religious leader José Calasanz, who sent him suitable young religious. At the request of the Medici they also opened in 1638 a special class just for nobles.
When the Galileo affair cooked up, he was in 1632 sent by the Order to Rome, where he but in close contact with the Galilei confidant, hydraulics specialists, Benedictine priest and professor in Rome Benedetto Castelli joined ( also a former teacher of the Medici princes ). But under pressure from the Medici princes he came back to Florence. While Galileo's last years under house arrest in Arcetri were Michelini and his students in contact with him. Michelini sent him gifts and selected religious Clemente Settini. Michelini, however, was 1637 again. Rome and 1638 in Pisa, where he started classes for the Medici Prince Gian Carlo Leopoldo de 'Medici and especially in mathematics and was traveling with his court Maybe he also taught the Duke Ferdinand de 'Medici in astronomy.
In 1648 he became professor of mathematics in Pisa, succeeding Vincenzo Renieri ( 1606-1648 ). 1655 he lost this chair. There are many indications that he lost the favor of Prince Ferdinand de Medici. He was then for a time at Vicar Bishop of Patti in Sicily and then returned to Florence, where he again sought the favor of the Medicis and he was supported at least by Leopold de Medici, who financed his book on hydraulics.
He was not a member of the Accademia del Cimento, founded in 1657, founded the Medici. The reasons are not known exactly, but probably should have been decisive its proximity to Galileo, which was not well received by the Inquisition and who took the Medici strong consideration. The School of Piaristen in Florence and Michelini got the displeasure of the Inquisition to feel because of their proximity to Galileo. But he was a math teacher of several members of the Academy ( Candido del Buono, Paolo del Buono and as mentioned, the Medici princes, Vincenzo Viviani was a student of the religious teacher Clemente Settini )
He represented the priority of the experiment and the science in medicine ( had it but no degree ), and was one of the pioneers in the field of hydraulics, in which he was involved in a long-standing controversy with Evangelista Torricelli.
In medicine, he advocated weight control and use of the juice of citrus fruits. As a proponent of the experiment in medicine, he paved the way for Francesco Redi and Giovanni Alfonso Borelli.
He worked in Florence as a hydraulic engineer ( drainage, straightening of rivers Arno and others ). He also advised in relation to the silting of the lagoon of Venice. From him comes a Trattato della direzione de Rivers (Florence 1664, reprinted 1700 in Bologna and recorded in 1723 by the professor in Bologna Dominico Guglielmini ( 1655-1710 ) in the Raccolta d' authorized che trattano dell'acque ) across rivers and their straightening. The book is dedicated to the Grand Duke of Tuscany, Ferdinand de Medici.