Montanari, Geminiano

Geminiano Montanari was an Italian mathematician and astronomer. He is mostly remembered for the discovery of the star Algol of the constellation of Perseus and his cometary observation of 1667, also quoted by Newton. Trained as a lawyer in Florence, he then devoted himself to the study of physics and mathematics. He started his career as an astronomical observer at the observatory of Panzano. From 1664 on, he held the professorship of mathematics in Bologna and then of astronomy and meteorology in Padua. He wrote on diverse topics, ranging from ballistics, hydraulics, astronomy, and monetary theory. Recent scholarship has also emphasized is epistemological reflections on the experimental method as an example of theorization of the experimental practice in continental Europe.