Antonio Vallisneri

Antonio Vallisneri, who lived from 1661 to 1730, was an Italian medical scientist, physician and naturalist who played a significant role in the early history of biology and anatomy. Born at Trassilico in the duchy of Modena, he went to Bologna in 1682 and studied medicine under Marcello Malpighi, took his doctorate in philosophy and medicine at Reggio, and in 1700 was called to the University of Padua as lecturer on practical medicine, a post he held for thirty years. His Dialoghi sopra la curiosa origine di molti insetti, published at Venice in 1700 as a dialogue between Malpighi and Pliny, argued that insects arise from eggs laid by females of the same species. He worked in biology, botany, veterinary medicine, hydrology and the newly born science of geology, and he is regarded as one of the fathers of modern geology, his work being highly valued by Charles Lyell. With his colleagues Giovanni Morgagni and Domenico Guglielmini he helped Padua overtake Bologna as the premier location for experimental philosophy in Italy. He died in Padua in 1730, and in 1733 his son donated his collection of natural finds and scientific instruments to the University of Padua.