Niccolò Zucchi (nonfiction)
Niccolò Zucchi (Italian pronunciation: [nikkoˈlɔ dˈdzukki; tˈtsukki]; December 6, 1586 – May 21, 1670) was an Italian Jesuit, astronomer, and physicist.
Zucchi published many books on science, including two works on the "philosophy of machines" (analyses of mechanics) in 1646 and 1649, and Optica philosophia in 1652. He also wrote an unpublished Optica statica, which has not survived.
Zucchi wrote about were magnetism, barometers (denying the existence of the vacuum), and phosphors (demonstrating that phosphors generate rather than store light).
He incorrectly asserted that since Venus represents beauty, it is closer to the Sun than Mercury (which represents skill).
In 1623, Zucchi was a member of a Papal legate sent to the court of Ferdinand II. There he met Johannes Kepler, the German mathematician and astronomer. Kepler encouraged Zucchi’s interest in astronomy. Zucchi maintained correspondence with Kepler after returning to Rome. At one point when Kepler was in financial difficulties, Zucchi, at the urging of the Jesuit scientist Father Paul Guldin, gave a telescope of his own design to Kepler, who mentioned the gift in his book “The Dream”.
Zucchi, along with fellow Jesuit Daniello Bartoli, may have been the first to see the belts on the planet Jupiter (on May 17, 1630).
Zucchi reported spots on Mars in 1640.
Bartoli wrote his Jesuit biography (1682).
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External links:
- Niccolò Zucch @ Wikipedia