Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-07-25
|TALY'S SCIENTISTS
HELDART'S RIVALS.
Exposition Shows Superior
Work of Leaders in
Many Fields.

Professor OF Physics, New York University.
It rs possible for q man to achieve so
much success In one field that trlumphs
in another remain almost unnoticed.
This was the case with Benjamin
Franklin, noted chiefly by the public as
a great statesman, but revered by SCI
entists for his extremely important con-
tributionS in their field.
Leonardo da Vinci, the master artist,
also was a great inventor. While he
did not achieve flight with an airplane,
he did leave careful drawings. and he
invented the parachute, certainly the
nearest approach to a flying device up
to or many years after his time. II 1t
did not rise, 1t at least made night
downward possible. And his parachute.
not of the umbrella type, but described
rather as a framed horizontal sail,
seems to have had some of the prop
critics OF the glider.
Da Vinci was the inventor Of many
other devices. He Is credited, Tor ex-
ample, with the invention Of the roller
chain such as Is used on bicycles. Liv-
ing, as he did, in the time Of COLUMBUS,
he was. perhaps, the greatest inventor
Of his age.
If this is true of man, it is also true
Of nations It Is undoubtedly true of
Leonardo's native land italy. A coun-
try noted chiefly for its painting, Its
sculpture and its music, its scientific
achievements have in large measure
been dwarfed by the magnihcence Of
these other achievements. Nevertheless,
II requires no great scrutiny to discover
that Italy's accomplishments in science
rang high In the achievements OF ma
tons in this field.
Failure to realize this, II such failure
has existed, is due, perhaps, to 1taly's
own failure to call attention to 1t. We
are now reminded. however. by Italy's
first national exposition of science be-
ing held at Florence this year. Here
have been gathered the Instruments and
records Of Italys great scientists.
Calico Father Of Achievement.
ITALY is the true birthplace Of mod
ern physical science. Modern achieve
ments began with Calico. In fact, we
might go back to the exact instant
when 1t all started, when two balls hit
the ground at the base of the leaning
tower of Pisa. This was in 1890, when
Calico, accompanied by students and
professors of the University of Pisa,
went to the tower to show that bodies.
time, air friction disregarded. To this
last point he showed that paper ap-
preached the time Of fall of heavier ma
terial the tighter it was wadded. Up
to this time it was believed that heavy
objects fell faster than light ones. But
no one tried the experiment.
Calico was the founder of the ex-
detrimental method. This and his in
dependent nature cost him MANY years
in prison He discovered the laws of
the pendulum and made modern clocks
possible. He made the first thermom-
eter and first used the telescope for
astronomical observations. He discov-
cred Jupiter's satellites and the sun
spots.
proved the telescope and made the FIRST
simple microscope. Carrying on work
suggested by Galileo. he invented the
bar2 meter. that instrument which we
find so valuable today in making
weather forecasts.
Pioneer In Science of Electricity.
AS the science Of astronomy. dy-
nsmics and meteorology had their begin
ming in italy under Calico. so had the
science Of electricity. 1t was in 1885
that Galvani, professor of anatomy
at the University Of Bologna. discov-
cred accidentally that a severed frogs
leg would still kick when pierced with
two dissinilar metal needles connected
by wire. The galvanic cell and the
galvanometer are named in his honor.
An explanation OF THIS erect ana
the development Of the galvanic cell
are due to Volta. To him is due the
invention Of the electroscope, the cleo
trophorus and that very important de-
vice. the electrical condenser. Because
he was the first to measure the poten-
tial difference between two dissimilar
substances. the volt. the practical unit
Of potential difference. is named In his
honor Many of the original docu-
ments Of Galyani are to be seen at the
National Exposition of Science.
BIazed Trail in Chemistry.
In chemistry italy can point with
nride to Avagadro. To him Is due that