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Vincenzo Viviani
Summary
Vincenzo Viviani (April 5, 1622 – September 22, 1703) was an Italian mathematician and scientist. He was a pupil of Torricelli and a disciple of Galileo.
Vincenzo Viviani was born in Florence to the nobles Jacopo di Michelangelo Viviani and Maria Alamanno del Nente. While attending a Jesuit school Viviani studied the humanities. Following the study of humanities, Viviani turned to mathematics. He studied geometry under the instruction of Galilean follower Clemente Settimi. It was through Clemente that Viviani would gain recognition and meet Clemente's instructor, Tuscan Court mathematician Famiano Michelini. In 1638, Michelini initiated the Grand Duke Ferdinand II de’ Medici's interest in Viviani and arranged their introduction in Livorno where Viviani would demonstrate his abilities. The Grand Duke offered Viviani a monthly salary to continue his education and introduced him to Galileo, whose deteriorating health required a capable and competent assistant. Later that year, Viviani was able to expand his knowledge over the philosophy of nature while assisting Galileo on Two new sciences, in which Galileo studied the acceleration of free bodies along an inclined plane. Their frequent exchange over the subject inspired Galileo to elaborate on the mathematical theory and complete his demonstration on free bodies that would establish its connection to nature. Viviani would later use similar applications of mathematics in nature during a collaboration with Nicolaus Steno.
In 1639, Viviani moved to Galileo's home in Arcetri to assist him in his studies before they were joined by Evangelista Torricelli in 1641. Apart from being Galileo's disciple, Viviani became a pupil of Evangelista Torricelli and worked on physics and geometry. Viviani was the last disciple of Galileo until Galileo's death in 1642.
After Torricelli's 1647 death, Viviani was appointed to fill his position at the Accademia dell'Arte del Disegno in Florence. Viviani was also one of the first members of the Grand Duke's experimental academy, the Accademia del Cimento, when it was created a decade later.
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