Evangelista Torricelli

Biography

(Physicist)

was a famous Italian mathematician and physicist who invented the barometer and laid the foundation of integral calculus. Born to parents of moderate means, Evangelista was sent to his uncle, a Camaldolese monk. Initially he studied at a school for the Jews in Faenza. Recognizing his talent in mathematics, Torricelli was sent to Rome by his uncle, to attend the school of Benedetto Castelli, who was also a monk like his uncle. It was Castelli who introduced Torricelli to Galileo, and Evangelista served as a secretary and assistant to the great scientist for the last few months before Galileo’s death. After Galileo’s death, his position as the court mathematician and philosopher was offered to Evangelista by the Duke of Tuscany, and Torricelli remained in that position until his death. During his stay in Rome, he also befriended the amazing mathematician Bonaventura Cavalieri. Torricelli was the first person to create a vacuum for a prolonged time and discovered the basic principle of barometer. Apart from his theoretical work, Evangelista had great skills as an instrument-maker, and made a lot of money from his skills of lens grinding. Read on to know more about the scientific contributions of this renowned scientist