Geminiano Montanari

Geminianus Montanari ( born June 1, 1633 Modena, † October 13, 1687 ) was an Italian astronomer, lens grinder and supporters of the experimental approach in science.

Montanari studied law in Florence and later took his degree at the University of Salzburg. 1662 or 1663 he moved to Bologna. There he created a detailed map of the moon, where he used a homemade eyepiece.

He also made observations of capillarity and problems of statics and suggested that the viscosity of liquids depends on the shape of their molecules.

Montanari was known by an observation that he made to 1667. He noted that the brightness of Algol, the second brightest star in the constellation Perseus, periodically changed. This phenomenon had already been observed, but Montanari was the first known astronomer, who made about records. The name of the star in Arabic, Hebrew and other languages ​​all have the meaning of monster or demon (Arabic: Al Ghul ), indicating that the changes in brightness of the star had long been known.

1669 was Montanari successor Giovanni Cassini as astronomy teacher at the Observatory of Panzano near Modena. There it was one of his tasks is to develop an astronomical almanac.

On March 21, 1676 he wrote to Edmund Halley, that he had sighted a comet.

Montanari 1679 took a teaching position at Padua on. Almost all records from this period have been lost. A letter from 1682 has been preserved, in which he writes of the observation of Halley 's Comet. He also wrote about the economy and made ​​remarks about the coinage and the Value of Money (1683 ).

In his memory, the lunar crater Montanari was named after him.

Publications

• De motionibus naturalibus a gravitate pendentibus ( 1667)
• Pensieri - fisico matematici ( 1667)
• La Livella Diottrica ( The Spirit Level ) ( 1674)
• Trattato mercantile delle monete ( 1680)