Giovanni Battista Audiffredi
Encyclopedia
Giovanni Battista Audiffredi (2 February 1714 – 4 July 1794) was an Italian Dominican
scholar and scientist.
.
Audiffredi's position enabled him to become an expert antiquarian, and he found time to cultivate his mathematical talent and to devote himself to astronomy. He built a small observatory, and at intervals busied himself with observation. The eighteenth century was much occupied with the problem of solar parallax. In 1761 and 1769 the transit of Venus
were observed, and Audiffredi contributed to the work in his publication, "Phaenomena coelestia observata—investigatio parallaxis solis. Exercitatio Dadei Ruffi" (anagram for Audiffredi). Alexandre Guy Pingré
's subsequent discounting of Audifreddi's observations led to a scientific dispute.
The predicted reappearance in the middle of the century of Halley's comet intensified scientific interest in cometic orbits. The epoch was favored with a number of brilliant objects of this kind, and that of 1769 distinguished itself by its great nucleus and by the tail which stretched over more than half the sky. Audiffredi took observations of the positions of the comet and published his results under the title, "Dimostrazione della stazione della cometa, 1769" (1770).
Dominican Order
The Order of Preachers , after the 15th century more commonly known as the Dominican Order or Dominicans, is a Catholic religious order founded by Saint Dominic and approved by Pope Honorius III on 22 December 1216 in France...
scholar and scientist.
Life
Giovanni Battista Audiffredi entered the Dominican Order, and soon attracted attention by his taste for books and his talent for the exact sciences. After being occupied in various houses as professor and bibliographer, he was at length transferred to the Dominican house of studies (S. Maria sopra Minerva), and was placed in charge (1765) of the Bibliotheca Casanatensis, founded in 1700 by Cardinal Girolamo CasanataGirolamo Casanata
Girolamo Casanata was an Italian Cardinal, b. Naples, 13 July 1620; d. Rome, 3 March 1700.-Biography:His father, Tommaso Casanatta, was a member of the supreme council of the Kingdom of Naples. Girolamo studied law at the university of his native town and practised in the courts for some time...
.
Works
Audiffredi published a bibliographical work in four folio, volumes entitled "Bibliotheca Casanatensis librorum typis impressorum, 1761–1790". The work remains unfinished, not proceeding beyond the letter L, and contains a list of his own publications. Similar works were the "Catalogus historico-criticus Romanarum editionum saeculi XV" (Rome, 1785, quarto), and the more extensively planned "Catalogus historico-criticus editionum Italicarum saeculi XV" (ibid., 1794,), which was to give an account of books printed in twenty-six Italian cities. Audiffredi did not live to complete the work. The first part, extending to the letter G, contains a short biography of the author introduced by the publisher.Audiffredi's position enabled him to become an expert antiquarian, and he found time to cultivate his mathematical talent and to devote himself to astronomy. He built a small observatory, and at intervals busied himself with observation. The eighteenth century was much occupied with the problem of solar parallax. In 1761 and 1769 the transit of Venus
Transit of Venus
A transit of Venus across the Sun takes place when the planet Venus passes directly between the Sun and Earth, becoming visible against the solar disk. During a transit, Venus can be seen from Earth as a small black disk moving across the face of the Sun...
were observed, and Audiffredi contributed to the work in his publication, "Phaenomena coelestia observata—investigatio parallaxis solis. Exercitatio Dadei Ruffi" (anagram for Audiffredi). Alexandre Guy Pingré
Alexandre Guy Pingré
Alexandre Guy Pingré was a French astronomer, priest, and naval geographer.He was born in Paris, France, and was educated at Senlis, where he became professor of theology in 1735. At an early age he had developed an interest in astronomy, and in 1749 he was appointed professor of astronomy at the...
's subsequent discounting of Audifreddi's observations led to a scientific dispute.
The predicted reappearance in the middle of the century of Halley's comet intensified scientific interest in cometic orbits. The epoch was favored with a number of brilliant objects of this kind, and that of 1769 distinguished itself by its great nucleus and by the tail which stretched over more than half the sky. Audiffredi took observations of the positions of the comet and published his results under the title, "Dimostrazione della stazione della cometa, 1769" (1770).