Benedetto Castelli | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 1578 |
| Died | 9 April 1643(1643-04-09) (aged 64–65) |
| Alma mater | University of Padua |
| Title | abbot |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Mathematician |
| Institutions | University of Pisa |
| Academic advisors | Galileo Galilei |
| Notable students | Giovanni Alfonso Borelli Evangelista Torricelli Bonaventura Cavalieri Antonio Nardi Raffaello Magiotti |
Benedetto CastelliO.S.B. (1578 – 9 April 1643), bornAntonio Castelli, was anItalian mathematician. Benedetto was his name in religion on entering theBenedictine Order in 1595.
Born inBrescia, Castelli studied at theUniversity of Padua and later became an abbot at theBenedictine monastery inMonte Cassino.
He was a long-time friend and supporter of his teacher,Galileo Galilei, and in turn, he was a teacher toGalileo's son. He assisted Galileo's study ofsunspots and participated in the examination of the theories ofNicolaus Copernicus. Castelli was interested inmathematics andhydraulics. He was appointed as a mathematician to theUniversity of Pisa, replacing Galileo, and later at theUniversity of Rome La Sapienza. Castelli introducedBonaventura Cavalieri to Galileo, leading to extensive correspondence between the latter; Galileo was instrumental in procuring a position for Cavalieri at theUniversity of Bologna in 1629.
Castelli was involved in the discovery of thephases of Venus:
In December 1610, Galileo received a letter from Castelli, asking if the phases of Venus were observable through Galileo's new telescope.[1] Days later, Galileo wrote in a letter toJohannes Kepler saying that he'd observed Venus going through phases, but took complete credit for himself. It is unclear, lacking copies of any earlier correspondence, whether Castelli was telling Galileo of it for the first time, or responding to Galileo having previously informed him of it.[2]
Castelli died inRome. His students includedGiovanni Alfonso Borelli,Raffaello Magiotti,Antonio Nardi, andEvangelista Torricelli, the inventor of thebarometer and an early proponent of theair pump. He recommendedGasparo Berti for a chair of mathematics at Sapienza. Berti was to be his successor at the university, but he died before he could take the post.
He publishedMensuration of Running Water, an important work on fluids in motion, and then hisGeometrical Demonstrations of the Measure of Running Waters in which the publishing notes described him as Abbot ofSan Benedetto Aloysio and Mathematician toPope Urban VIII, once a supporter of his mentor, Galileo.
He dedicated both publications to "the most Illustrious, and most Excellent Prince"Taddeo Barberini, a nephew of Pope Urban VIII.[3]
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