Giambattista Pianciani (b. Spoleto

Spoleto

Spoleto is an ancient city in the Italian province of Perugia in east central Umbria on a foothill of the Apennines. It is S. of Trevi, N. of Terni, SE of Perugia; SE of Florence; and N of Rome.-History:...

, 27 Oct., 1784; d. Rome, 23 March 1862) was an Italian Jesuit scientist.

He entered the Society of Jesus

Society of Jesus

The Society of Jesus is a Catholic male religious order that follows the teachings of the Catholic Church. The members are called Jesuits, and are also known colloquially as "God's Army" and as "The Company," these being references to founder Ignatius of Loyola's military background and a...

 on 2 June 1805; after having received the ordinary Jesuit training he was sent to various cities in the Papal States

Papal States

The Papal State, State of the Church, or Pontifical States were among the major historical states of Italy from roughly the 6th century until the Italian peninsula was unified in 1861 by the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia .The Papal States comprised territories under...

 to teach mathematics and physics and finally was appointed professor in the Roman College, where he lectured and wrote on scientific subjects for twenty-four years. He was an active member of the Accademia d'Arcadia

Academy of Arcadia

The Academy of Arcadia or Academy of Arcadians was an Italian literary academy founded in Rome in 1690.-History:...

, his academical pseudonym being "Polite Megaride", of the Accademia de' Lincei

Accademia dei Lincei

The Accademia dei Lincei, , is an Italian science academy, located at the Palazzo Corsini on the Via della Lungara in Rome, Italy....

, and of other scientific societies. His scientific labours were abruptly brought to an end by the Revolution of 1848

Revolutions of 1848 in the Italian states

The 1848 revolutions in the Italian states were organized revolts in the states of Italy led by intellectuals and agitators who desired a liberal government. As Italian nationalists they sought to eliminate reactionary Austrian control...

; he succeeded, however, in making his escape from Rome and having come to America he taught dogmatic theology during the scholastic year 1849-50 at the Jesuit theologate then connected with Georgetown College

Georgetown College (Georgetown University)

Georgetown College, infrequently Georgetown College of Arts and Sciences, is the oldest school within Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. The College is the largest undergraduate school at Georgetown, and until the founding of the Medical School in 1850, was the only higher education division...

, Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

  When peace was restored in Rome he returned there and from 1851 till his death was engaged chiefly in administrative duties and in teaching philosophy both in the Roman College and in the Collegio Filosofico in the University of Rome, of which latter college he was president during the last two years of his life.

Published works

• Istituzioni fisico-chemiche (4 vols., Rome, 1833-4);
• Elementi di fisico-chimica (2 vols., Naples, 1840–41);
• In historiam creationis mosaicam commentarius (Naples, 1851), which he wrote whilst at Georgetown and of which there is a German translation by Schöttl (Ratisbon, 1853);
• Saggi filosfici (Rome, 1855);
• Nuovi saggi filosofici (Rome, 1856);
• Cosmogonia naturale comparata col Genesi (Rome, 1862).

Sources

Attribution Cites:

• • Carlos Sommervogel
    Carlos Sommervogel
    Carlos Sommervogel was a French Jesuit scholar. He was author of the monumental Bibliothèque de la Compagnie de Jésus, which served as one of the major references for the editors of the Catholic Encyclopedia....
    
    , Bibl. de la C. de J., VI (Brussels, 1895).