Bellani, Angelo

(b. Monza, Italy, 31 October 1776; d Milan, Italy, 28 August 1852)

physics, chemistry.

Bellani received his education in religious institutions, as was common, He studied rhetoric at the school of the Merate dei Somaschi; philosophy at the school of Monza, run by former Jesuits; and theology at the seminary of Milan, where he was ordained a priest. He was appointed honorary canon of the basilica of Monza, and was a member of the Istituto Lombardo Accademia di Scienze e Lettere and of the Società Italiana delle Scienze di Verona.

Bellani began his scientific activity with the construction and study of thermometers. He designed the “thermometergraph.” He made an instrument with a double scale that served as an inspiration to the English physicist Six and was to prove helpful in the automatic registering of maximum and minimum temperatures. In 1808 Bellani demonstrated how “zero” on the thermometer’s scale is subject to variations caused by deformations of the glass over the years. In that year he also established a factory in Milan for the manufacture of thermometers, a business that flourished from the outset.

Bellani was also interested in chemistry, especially as it related to the construction of physical instruments. In fact, in his research on combustion, on the temperature of liquefaction and of ebullition of phosphorus, his idea was to construct a phosphorus eudiometer that would not present the limitations of the one invented by the Piedmontese chemist Giovanni Antonio Giobert and used by Lazzaro Spallanzani in his biological experiments; it would permit an exact quantitative determination of the gas produced. In 1824 Bellani also distinguished the catalytic function of a platinum sponge saturated with hydrogen. After 1815 he widened the scope of his scientific studies to include meteorology and agriculture, and during the later years of his life he turned his attention to natural history.

In meteorology Bellani continued his interest in instrumentation. He made a hygrometer from a fish bladder (1836) and perfected Landriani’s atmidomètre. In 1834 he defined his theory on the formation of hail, resuming the criticism, which dated back to 1817, of the ideas that Alessandro Volta had expressed on this subject. Basing his arguments on laboratory data and on direct meteorological observations. he demonstrated that Volta’s theory was founded on the false and contradictory principle of the extreme cold produced by the warming action of the sun.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

I. Original Works. Most of Bellani’s works were published in scientific journals and reviews. In the Nuova scelta d’opuscoli interessanti sulle scienze e sulle arti are “Descrizione di un termometro ad indice”(1804): “Osser vazioni sull’uso dell’aerometro di Farenheit e di Baumé”(1804); “Sulla divisione decimale del pesa-licori”(1804): and “Osservazioni d’esperienze fatte colla pilla di Volta sulla produzione dell’acido muriatico ossigenato”(1806).

In the Giornale di fisica, chimica e storia naturale are “Sopra la spiegazione di un fenomeno idrostatico dato dal Sign. Robinet” (1808); “Esame dell’ebollizione dei liquidi” (1809–1810); “Dell’ascensione del mercurio ne’ tubi capilari”(1810); “Sopra un nuovo termografo” (1811); “Sulla deliquescenza de’ corpi” (1812); “Sull’ antichità dei telegrafi”(1812); “Sul fosforo come mezzo eudionmetrico”(1813–1814): “Se la fosforescenza di alcune piante sia analoga alla lenta combustione del fosforo” (1816–1817); “Nuova ipotesi sulla coda di comete” (1820); “Descrizione di un nuovo atmidometro” (1820);“Storia di un aerolito” (1822); “Sull’origine e la natura delle stelle cadenti”; (1822); “Del I’incertezza nel determinare il punto del ghiaccio” (1822); “Di alcune proprieta del mercurio e del vetro” (1823); “Sulla proprieta che posseggono alcune sostanze di facilitare la combinazione del gas idrogeno con I’ossigenio” (1824); “Sopra la cristallizzazione e congelazione” (1827);“Sul termobarometro” (1827); and “Sulla salsedine del l’ acqua del mare” (1823).

In the Memorie dell’ lstituto lombardo are “Sopra la teoria della combustione del fosforo” (1813); “Esposizione di alcune esperienze relative alla dilatazione dei corpi” (1814); “Sul freddo prodotto dall’evaporazione” (1815); and “Intorno alla corona ferrea esistente nella basilica di Monza” (1818).

In the Giornale e biblioteca dell’Istituto lombardo are “Sull’arte di filare il vetro” (1840); “Sopra diversi argo menti fisico-chimici” (1842); “Sopra una supposta causa principale dell’utilità degli avvicendamenti agrari” (1842);“Sulle funzioni delle radici nei vegetali” (1843); “Sopra un fenomeno di sospesa evaporazione” (1844); “Sulla filatura dei bozzoli a freddo” (1844); and “Osservazioni di fisiologia vegetale” (1846–1847).

In the Memorie di matematica e fisica della Societa italiana delle scienze are “Sullo spostamento del mercurio osservato al punto del ghiaccio nella scala dei termometri” (1841); and “Della malaria vicino ai fontanini d’irrigazione” (1844).

His books include Tentativi per determinare l’aumento di volume che acquista l’acqua prima e dopo la congelazione (Pavia,1808); Riflessioni intorno ad alcune recenti opinioni riguardanti il fosforo(Pavia, 1814); Delle rotazioni agrarie (Pesaro, 1833); Sulla grandine(Milan, 1834); Della indefinibile durabilità della vita delle bestie(Milan, 1836); Revisione di alcuni supposti assioma fisiologici intorno l’as sorbimento o la evaporazione delle foglie nelle piante (Milan, 1837); and Osservazioni sulla bacologia, 3 vols. (Milan,1852).

II. Secondary Literature. The only works that deal in depth with Bellani’s work are the obituary by G. Veladini, in Giornale dell’ lombardo9 (1856), 485–489; and G. Cantoni, “Sopra due strumenti metereologici ideati da Angelo Bellani,” in Rendiconti dell’ Istituto lombardo, 10 (1877), 17–23: 11 (1878), 873–880.

The transactions of the congresses of Italian scientists, in which Bellani participated actively, contain extensive extracts of his remarks.

In agriculture he collaborated on the Giornale agrario lombardo-veneto, contributing articles on the cultivation of the silkworm, wood, malaria, and the function of the roots of plants.

Giorgio Pedrocco