Giovanni Francesco Crivelli (20September 169020September 1743) was an Italian Catholic priest and scientist. Crivelli was a member of the Order of Clerics Regular of Somasca in the Cloister of the Health, before becoming provincial Father of the order and rector of the Seminar of

Murano Murano is a series of islands linked by bridges in the Venetian Lagoon, northern Italy. It lies about north of Venice and measures about across with a population of just over 5,000 (2004 figures). It is famous for its glass making. It was o ...

Writings

He published two teaching books, the ''Elements of Numeral and Literal Arithmetic'' (published in Venice in 1728), and the ''Elements of Physics'' (published in Venice in 1731 and subsequently broadened in 1744). His original manuscripts are lost. The second book is particularly important for a number of reasons. It is a popular teaching book whose first volume contains material still used today in High School science classes (with the exception of electro-magnetic phenomena, considered at that time as little more than a novelty phenomenon). The book also discusses astronomical matters. The book notes the full reception of the physics of

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 ...

and of

Newton Newton most commonly refers to: * Isaac Newton (1642–1726/1727), English scientist * Newton (unit), SI unit of force named after Isaac Newton Newton may also refer to: People * Newton (surname), including a list of people with the surname * ...

with Galileo called "the prince of the scientists", and a full recognition of the importance of the Arabic Muslim civilisation in the creation of

the scientific method ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...

. The explanation of the scientific method coincides practically with the positions of

neopositivism Logical positivism, also known as logical empiricism or neo-positivism, was a philosophical movement, in the empiricist tradition, that sought to formulate a scientific philosophy in which philosophical discourse would be, in the perception of i ...

and of

scientific realism Scientific realism is the philosophical view that the universe described by science (including both observable and unobservable aspects) exists independently of our perceptions, and that verified scientific theories are at least approximately true ...

. The writing style is innovative and still relevant for its use of the Italian language, for the detailed and precise descriptions of many experiments, including those carried out outside Europe, and for demonstrating the varied hypotheses of scientists related to arguments under discussion in those years. Also of note is the recognition of the existence of theoretical physics, and its equal importance alongside

experimental physics Experimental physics is the category of disciplines and sub-disciplines in the field of physics that are concerned with the observation of physical phenomena and experiments. Methods vary from discipline to discipline, from simple experiments and o ...

. His activity was also highly valued outside of Italy. Crivelli was elected in January 1734 as a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the Fellows of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...

(his books are in the library of the Royal Society). After his death, he was soon forgotten and his work was only recently re-discovered.

Notes

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Crivelli, Giovanni Franceso 1743 deaths 1691 births Republic of Venice clergy Republic of Venice scientists Fellows of the Royal Society