Francesco Zantedeschi was an Italian

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 priest

Priest

A priest is a person authorized to perform the sacred rites of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities...

 and physicist

Physicist

A physicist is a scientist who studies or practices physics. Physicists study a wide range of physical phenomena in many branches of physics spanning all length scales: from sub-atomic particles of which all ordinary matter is made to the behavior of the material Universe as a whole...

.

Biography

A native of Dolcè

Dolcè

Dolcè is a comune in the Province of Verona in the Italian region Veneto, located about 120 km west of Venice and about 20 km northwest of Verona, in the Adige Valley.-Main sights:...

, near Verona

Verona

Verona ; German Bern, Dietrichsbern or Welschbern) is a city in the Veneto, northern Italy, with approx. 265,000 inhabitants and one of the seven chef-lieus of the region. It is the second largest city municipality in the region and the third of North-Eastern Italy. The metropolitan area of Verona...

, Zantedeschi was for some time professor of physics

Physics

Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...

 and philosophy

Philosophy

Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...

 in the Liceo of Venice. Later he accepted the chair of physics in the University of Padua

University of Padua

The University of Padua is a premier Italian university located in the city of Padua, Italy. The University of Padua was founded in 1222 as a school of law and was one of the most prominent universities in early modern Europe. It is among the earliest universities of the world and the second...

, which he held until 1853 being then obliged to resign on account of failing sight. He was an ardent worker and prolific writer, 325 memoirs and communications appearing under his name in the Biblioteca Italiana and the Bibliotheque Universelle de Geneve.

Zantedeschi died at Padua

Padua

Padua is a city and comune in the Veneto, northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Padua and the economic and communications hub of the area. Padua's population is 212,500 . The city is sometimes included, with Venice and Treviso, in the Padua-Treviso-Venice Metropolitan Area, having...

 in 1873.

Scientific work

In 1829 and again in 1830, Zantedeschi published papers on the production of electric current

Electric current

Electric current is a flow of electric charge through a medium.This charge is typically carried by moving electrons in a conductor such as wire...

s in closed circuits by the approach and withdrawal of a magnet

Magnet

A magnet is a material or object that produces a magnetic field. This magnetic field is invisible but is responsible for the most notable property of a magnet: a force that pulls on other ferromagnetic materials, such as iron, and attracts or repels other magnets.A permanent magnet is an object...

, thereby anticipating Michael Faraday

Michael Faraday

Michael Faraday, FRS was an English chemist and physicist who contributed to the fields of electromagnetism and electrochemistry....

's classical experiments of 1831.

While carrying out researches on the solar spectrum, Zantedeschi was among the first to recognize the marked absorption by the atmosphere

Earth's atmosphere

The atmosphere of Earth is a layer of gases surrounding the planet Earth that is retained by Earth's gravity. The atmosphere protects life on Earth by absorbing ultraviolet solar radiation, warming the surface through heat retention , and reducing temperature extremes between day and night...

 of red

Red

Red is any of a number of similar colors evoked by light consisting predominantly of the longest wavelengths of light discernible by the human eye, in the wavelength range of roughly 630–740 nm. Longer wavelengths than this are called infrared , and cannot be seen by the naked eye...

, yellow

Yellow

Yellow is the color evoked by light that stimulates both the L and M cone cells of the retina about equally, with no significant stimulation of the S cone cells. Light with a wavelength of 570–590 nm is yellow, as is light with a suitable mixture of red and green...

, and green

Green

Green is a color, the perception of which is evoked by light having a spectrum dominated by energy with a wavelength of roughly 520–570 nanometres. In the subtractive color system, it is not a primary color, but is created out of a mixture of yellow and blue, or yellow and cyan; it is considered...

 light

Light

Light or visible light is electromagnetic radiation that is visible to the human eye, and is responsible for the sense of sight. Visible light has wavelength in a range from about 380 nanometres to about 740 nm, with a frequency range of about 405 THz to 790 THz...

.

He also thought that he had detected, in 1838, a magnetic action on steel

Steel

Steel is an alloy that consists mostly of iron and has a carbon content between 0.2% and 2.1% by weight, depending on the grade. Carbon is the most common alloying material for iron, but various other alloying elements are used, such as manganese, chromium, vanadium, and tungsten...

 needles by ultraviolet

Ultraviolet

Ultraviolet light is electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength shorter than that of visible light, but longer than X-rays, in the range 10 nm to 400 nm, and energies from 3 eV to 124 eV...

 light. Though this effect was not confirmed, it is interesting to note that a connection between light and magnetism was suspected so many years before the announcement in 1867 by James Clerk Maxwell

James Clerk Maxwell

James Clerk Maxwell of Glenlair was a Scottish physicist and mathematician. His most prominent achievement was formulating classical electromagnetic theory. This united all previously unrelated observations, experiments and equations of electricity, magnetism and optics into a consistent theory...

 of the electromagnetic theory

Electromagnetic radiation

Electromagnetic radiation is a form of energy that exhibits wave-like behavior as it travels through space...

 of light.

In a tract of 16 pages, published in 1859, Zantedeschi defended the claims of Gian Domenico Romagnosi

Gian Domenico Romagnosi

Gian Domenico Romagnosi was an Italian philosopher, economist and jurist.-Biography:Gian Domenico Romagnosi was born in Salsomaggiore Terme....

 to the discovery in 1802 of the magnetic effect of the electric current, a discovery which is usually accredited to Hans Christian Ørsted

Hans Christian Ørsted

Hans Christian Ørsted was a Danish physicist and chemist who discovered that electric currents create magnetic fields, an important aspect of electromagnetism...

 in 1820. Zantedeschi's experiments and papers on the repulsion of flame

Flame

A flame is the visible , gaseous part of a fire. It is caused by a highly exothermic reaction taking place in a thin zone...

s by a strong magnetic field (discovered by Padre Bancalari

Padre Bancalari

Padre Bancalari was professor of natural philosophy at the University of Genoa. In 1847, he discovered that flames were diamagnetic by showing that there were repulsed by a strong magnetic field....

 of the Pious Schools in 1847) attracted general attention at the time.

In his later years Zantedeschi dictated an autobiography

Autobiography

An autobiography is a book about the life of a person, written by that person.-Origin of the term:...

 which is kept in the archives of the Academy of Verona. His principal works are: Ricerche sul termo-elettricismo dinamico (1838) and Trattato del Magnetismo e della Elettricita (1843).

Sources