Ramiro Rampinelli, born Lodovico Rampinelli (1697 – 1759), was an Italian

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 ...

and physicist. He was a monk in the

Olivetan Order The Olivetans, formally known as the Order of Our Lady of Mount Olivet, are a monastic order. They were founded in 1313 and recognised in 1344. They use the Rule of Saint Benedict and are a member of the Benedictine Confederation, where they are ...

. He had a decisive influence on the spread of mathematical analysis, algebra and mathematical physics in the best universities of Italy.A. Fappani, ''Enciclopedia Bresciana'', Brescia: La Voce del Popolo, 1997 He is one of the best known Italian scholars in the field of infinitesimal mathematics of the first half of the 18th century.

Biography

He was born in

Brescia Brescia (, locally ; lmo, link=no, label= Lombard, Brèsa ; lat, Brixia; vec, Bressa) is a city and ''comune'' in the region of Lombardy, Northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Garda and Ise ...

into the noble Rampinelli family and educated by the

Jesuits The Society of Jesus ( la, Societas Iesu; abbreviation: SJ), also known as the Jesuits (; la, Iesuitæ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

; he learned the rudiments of mathematics from Giovan Battista Mazini. He studied first at the

University of Bologna The University of Bologna ( it, Alma Mater Studiorum – Università di Bologna, UNIBO) is a public research university in Bologna, Italy. Founded in 1088 by an organised guild of students (''studiorum''), it is the oldest university in continuo ...

, where he was a disciple of

Gabriele Manfredi Gabriele Manfredi (25 March 1681 – 13 October 1761) was an Italian mathematician who undertook important work in the field of calculus. Early years Gabriele Manfredi was born in Bologna, then in the Papal States, on 25 March 1681. He was the s ...

, and took his

monastic vows Monasticism (from Ancient Greek , , from , , 'alone'), also referred to as monachism, or monkhood, is a religious way of life in which one renounces worldly pursuits to devote oneself fully to spiritual work. Monastic life plays an important rol ...

on 1 November 1722 at

San Michele in Bosco San Michele in Bosco is a religious complex in Bologna, central Italy, including the church with the same name and the annexed Olivetan monastery. The buildings of the monastery were acquired in 1955 by the municipality of Bologna, to house an ...

. In 1727, after a brief stay at the Monastery of St. Helen in Venice, he entered the Abbey of St. Benedict in

Padua Padua ( ; it, Padova ; vec, Pàdova) is a city and ''comune'' in Veneto, northern Italy. Padua is on the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice. It is the capital of the province of Padua. It is also the economic and communications hub of t ...

, where he made the acquaintance of the best known professors of mathematics at the

University of Padua The University of Padua ( it, Università degli Studi di Padova, UNIPD) is an Italian university located in the city of Padua, region of Veneto, northern Italy. The University of Padua was founded in 1222 by a group of students and teachers from ...

, such as Marquess

Giovanni Poleni Giovanni Poleni (b. Venice, around 1683; d. Padua, Nov., 1761) was a Marquess, physicist, mathematician and antiquarian. Early life He was the son of Marquess Jacopo Poleni and studied the classics, philosophy, theology, mathematics, and physics ...

and Count

Jacopo Riccati Jacopo Francesco Riccati (28 May 1676 – 15 April 1754) was a Venetian mathematician and jurist from Venice. He is best known for having studied the equation which bears his name. Education Riccati was educated first at the Jesuit school for the ...

; he formed a lasting friendship with the latter's family. In 1731 he was in Rome for a year, spending time with Celestino Galiani and Antonio Leprotti, studying subjects including architecture. After a period at the

University of Naples Federico II The University of Naples Federico II ( it, Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II) is a public university in Naples, Italy. Founded in 1224, it is the oldest public non-sectarian university in the world, and is now organized into 26 depar ...

, during which time he was always in contact with the best mathematicians, such as

Nicola Antonio De Martino Nicola may refer to: People * Nicola (name), including a list of people with the given name or, less commonly, the surname **Nicola (artist) or Nicoleta Alexandru, singer who represented Romania at the 2003 Eurovision Song Contest * Nicola people ...

, he was assigned by his superiors to the

University of Pavia The University of Pavia ( it, Università degli Studi di Pavia, UNIPV or ''Università di Pavia''; la, Alma Ticinensis Universitas) is a university located in Pavia, Lombardy, Italy. There was evidence of teaching as early as 1361, making it on ...

for a year. He then returned to the University of Bologna in 1733, to teach mathematics. Here he completed his ''Istituzioni Fisiche con il metodo analitico''.Carlo Succi, ''Un Matematico Bresciano Ramiro Rampinelli Monaco Olivetano 1697–1759'', Rodengo-Saiano (BS): Centro storico olivetano / Brescia: Ateneo di Brescia, 1992,
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In 1740, after a stay at the monastery of St. Francis in Brescia, he transferred to the Olivetan monastery of San Vittore al Corso in

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard language, Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the List of cities in Italy, second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 ...

, where he was also mathematics tutor to the noblewoman

Maria Gaetana Agnesi Maria Gaetana Agnesi ( , , ; 16 May 1718 – 9 January 1799) was an Italian mathematician, philosopher, theologian, and humanitarian. She was the first woman to write a mathematics handbook and the first woman appointed as a mathematics prof ...

, who remembered him with gratitude in the preface to her ''Instituzioni Analitiche per la gioventù d'Italia''. In 1747, the Senate of Milan appointed him (at double salary) to the

chair A chair is a type of seat, typically designed for one person and consisting of one or more legs, a flat or slightly angled seat and a back-rest. They may be made of wood, metal, or synthetic materials, and may be padded or upholstered in vari ...

in Mathematics and Physics at the University of Pavia. His expertise in river hydraulics also earned him the appointment as supervisor both for the construction of the Pavia-Milan canal and for the construction of the embankment to contain the

Po River The Po ( , ; la, Padus or ; Ancient Ligurian: or ) is the longest river in Italy. It flows eastward across northern Italy starting from the Cottian Alps. The river's length is either or , if the Maira, a right bank tributary, is included. Th ...

at Parpanese, in the

Oltrepò Pavese The Oltrepò Pavese (; lmo, label=Western Lombard, Ultrepò Paves) is an area of the Province of Pavia, in the north-west Italian region of Lombardy, which lies to the south of the river Po. It is ('beyond') the Po when considered from the p ...

In 1758 his ''Lectiones opticæ Ramiri Rampinelii brixiani Congregationis Montis Oliveti monachi et in gymnasio Ticinensi Matheseos Professoris'' was published with the prestigious Brescia printer Bossini. This work on optics was to have been followed by ''Trigonometria'' and ''Applicazione dei principi matematici alla fisica pratica'', but Rampinelli suffered a stroke on 10 April 1758. After a short period of recuperation in Brescia, he returned to the monastery of San Vittore al Corso in Milan, where, on 8 February 1759, he had a second stroke and died.

Giordano Riccati Giordano Riccati or Jordan Riccati (25 February 1709 – 20 July 1790) was the first experimental mechanician to study material elastic moduli as we understand them today. His 1782 paper on determining the relative Young's moduli of steel and br ...

wrote in a supplement to his eulogy dated 9 January 1760:

In him were united doctrine and an indescribable modesty, and firm religious faith accompanied by all the moral and Christian virtues. His only thoughts were ever to fulfill the obligations of his own condition, and study his only innocent passion, by which he let himself be dominated, virtuously directing it outward in indefatigable service of his Religion and the Public. He dedicated himself willingly to others' benefit, and of benefits received, an indelible, grateful memory was preserved.Giordano Riccati, "Supplemento all'elogio del P.D.R. Rampinelli", ''Nuove memorie per servire alla Storia Letteraria'', Venice, 1760: "Accoppiò egli colla dottrina una indicibile modestia, ed una soda religione accompagnata da tutte le virtù morali e cristiane. Furono sempre gli unici suoi pensieri l'adempiere gli obblighi del proprio stato, e lo studio unica innocente passione, da cui si lasciò dominare, indirizzandola per altro virtuosamente al servigio indefesso della sua Religione, e del Pubblico. S'impegnava volentieri in giovamento altrui, e dei ricevuti benefici ne conservava indelebile, grata memoria."

Works

* Other works by Rampinelli, said by contemporaries to be preserved in manuscript at the monastery of San Vittore in Milan, are now lost. * ''Applicazione de' principi alla fisica pratica'' * ''Trattato di trigonometria piana e sferica'' * ''Istituzioni Fisiche con il metodo analitico'' * ''Trattato di idrostatica (ad integrazione delle istituzioni fisiche)''

References

Sources and further reading

* ''Excerpta Totius Italiae necnon Helvetia littératoria'' Vol. III - 1759 * C. G. Pozzi. "Elogio del P.D. Ramiro Rampinelli Bresciano". ''Giornale de' Letterati'', Rome, 1760 * F. Torricelli. "De Vita Rampinelli Epistola". in ''Lectiones Opticae''. Brescia, 1760 * A. Fabroni. ''Vitae Italorum doctrina excellentium''. Vol. VIII. Pisa, 1781 * F. Mandelli. ''Nuova raccolta di opuscoli scientifici e filosofici''. Ed. A. Calogerà. Vol. XL. Venice, 1784 * A. Brognoli. ''Elogi de' Bresciani per dottrina eccellenti nel secolo XVIII''. Brescia, 1785 * P. Verri. ''Memorie appartenenti alla vita ed agli studi di P. Frisi''. Milan, 1787 * A. F. Frisi. ''Elogio storico di Donna M. G. Agnesi Milanese''. Milan: Galeazzi, 1799 * V. Peroni. ''Biblioteca Bresciana''. Vol. III. Brescia, 1821 * P. Gambara. ''Ragionamenti di cose patrie''. Vol. IV. Brescia, 1840 * J. C. Poggendorf. ''Biographisch-literarisches Handwörterbuch zur Geschichte der exakten Wissenschaften''. Vol. II. Leipzig, 1863 * C. Cocchetti. ''Del movimento intellettuale nella provincia di Brescia''. Brescia, 1880 * U. Baldini. "L'insegnamento fisico matematico a Pavia alle soglie dell'età Teresiana". In ''Economia, istituzioni, cultura in Lombardia nell'età di M. Teresa''. Vol. III. Milan: Il Mulino, 1980 {{DEFAULTSORT:Rampinelli, Ramiro Italian mathematicians University of Bologna alumni Academic staff of the University of Bologna Academic staff of the University of Pavia 1697 births 1759 deaths Scientists from Brescia