Conte Carlo Antonio Manzini (5 October 16001677) was an Italian

astronomer An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. Astronomers observe astronomical objects, such as stars, planets, natural satellite, moons, comets and galaxy, galax ...

and

mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, mathematical structure, structure, space, Mathematica ...

. (His last name is sometimes given as Mangini or Mansini). Manzini was one of the best scholars of astronomy and optics of his time.

Biography

A member of the Bolognese nobility, Manzini was a student of

Giovanni Antonio Magini Giovanni Antonio Magini (in Latin, Maginus) (13 June 1555 – 11 February 1617) was an Italian astronomer, astrologer, cartographer, and mathematician. His Life He was born in Padua, and completed studies in philosophy in Bologna in 1579. His ...

. He belonged to a group of Bolognese scientists who supported

Galileo Galileo di Vincenzo Bonaiuti de' Galilei (15 February 1564 – 8 January 1642), commonly referred to as Galileo Galilei ( , , ) or mononymously as Galileo, was an Italian astronomer, physicist and engineer, sometimes described as a poly ...

. In the first volume of his ''Almagestum novum'' (Bologna, 1651),

Giovanni Battista Riccioli Giovanni Battista Riccioli (17 April 1598 – 25 June 1671) was an Italian astronomer and a Catholic priest in the Jesuit order. He is known, among other things, for his experiments with pendulums and with falling bodies, for his discussion of ...

praised Manzini’s philosophical and scientific knowledge. He was in contact with many of the leading scientists of the time, including

Mario Bettinus Mario Bettinus (; 7 November 1657) was an Italian Jesuit philosopher, mathematician and astronomer. The lunar crater Bettinus was named after him by Giovanni Riccioli in 1651. Biography Mario Bettinus studied mathematics under the Belgian J ...

(with whom he performed some experiments),

Ovidio Montalbani Ovidio Montalbani (18 November 160120 September 1671), also known by his pseudonym Giovanni Antonio Bumaldi, was an Italian polymath. He was a professor of logic, mathematics, astronomy, and medicine at the University of Bologna. Life Ovidio M ...

and

Bonaventura Cavalieri Bonaventura Francesco Cavalieri (; 1598 – 30 November 1647) was an Italian mathematician and a Jesuati, Jesuate. He is known for his work on the problems of optics and motion (physics), motion, work on indivisibles, the precursors of infin ...

(who was helped by Manzini to obtain the chair of mathematics at the

University of Bologna The University of Bologna (, abbreviated Unibo) is a Public university, public research university in Bologna, Italy. Teaching began around 1088, with the university becoming organised as guilds of students () by the late 12th century. It is the ...

). Manzini was a member of the Accademia dei Gelati and one of the founders of the Accademia dei Vespertini, dedicated to the study of mathematics and experimental research. He published works on various phenomena, including

comets A comet is an icy, small Solar System body that warms and begins to release gases when passing close to the Sun, a process called outgassing. This produces an extended, gravitationally unbound atmosphere or coma surrounding the nucleus, an ...

geodesy Geodesy or geodetics is the science of measuring and representing the Figure of the Earth, geometry, Gravity of Earth, gravity, and Earth's rotation, spatial orientation of the Earth in Relative change, temporally varying Three-dimensional spac ...

, and declination of the

compass A compass is a device that shows the cardinal directions used for navigation and geographic orientation. It commonly consists of a magnetized needle or other element, such as a compass card or compass rose, which can pivot to align itself with No ...

. In 1626 he published ''Tabulae primi mobilis: quibus nova dirigendi ars et praecipue circuli positionis inventio, non minus facilis quam exacta ostenditur''. This volume presented tables for the construction of astrological charts. His 1660 work, ''L'occhiale all'occhio, dioptrica practica'', is one of the oldest accounts of the techniques for manufacturing

lenses A lens is a transmissive optical device that focuses or disperses a light beam by means of refraction. A simple lens consists of a single piece of transparent material, while a compound lens consists of several simple lenses (''elements''), ...

through grinding and polishing. Manzini was in close personal contact with the two principal makers of telescopes in Italy,

Francesco Fontana Francesco Fontana (, Naples – July 1656, Naples) was an Italian lawyer and an astronomer. Biography Francesco Fontana studied law at the University of Naples and then he became a lawyer in the court at the Castel Capuano. But failing to alwa ...

and

Eustachio Divini Eustachio Divini (4 October 1610 – 22 February 1685) was an Italian manufacturer and experimenter of optical instruments for scientific use in Rome. The origins Eustachio was born on 4 October 1610 in San Severino Marche, from the illustrious ...

. A portrait of Divini is included in his book which forms a complete practical manual for the artisan in the construction of both

microscopes A microscope () is a laboratory instrument used to examine objects that are too small to be seen by the naked eye. Microscopy is the science of investigating small objects and structures using a microscope. Microscopic means being invisibl ...

and

telescopes A telescope is a device used to observe distant objects by their emission, Absorption (electromagnetic radiation), absorption, or Reflection (physics), reflection of electromagnetic radiation. Originally, it was an optical instrument using len ...

. From 1667 to 1670 Manzini lived in

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

. He took part in the cultural life of the city, and became a prominent member of the Accademia degli Apatisti, founded in 1632 by the scholar Agostino Coltellini, a supporter of Galilean philosophy. A skilled astronomer, Manzini made astronomical observations from his private

observatory An observatory is a location used for observing terrestrial, marine, or celestial events. Astronomy, climatology/meteorology, geophysics, oceanography and volcanology are examples of disciplines for which observatories have been constructed. Th ...

, which he maintained at his villa at Battedizzo near Bologna. Manzini died in Bologna in 1677. He was buried in the Basilica of San Giacomo Maggiore. The crater Manzinus on the

Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It Orbit of the Moon, orbits around Earth at Lunar distance, an average distance of (; about 30 times Earth diameter, Earth's diameter). The Moon rotation, rotates, with a rotation period (lunar ...

is named after him.

Works

* * * * *

Notes

Bibliography

* * *

External links

*
Libra antichi - Biblioteca "Guido Horn d'Arturo"

Smithsonian Institution Libraries
1599 births 1678 deaths University of Bologna alumni Scientists from Bologna 17th-century Italian astronomers {{Italy-astronomer-stub