Francesco Redi: Difference between revisions
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{{Infobox scientist |
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|name = Francesco Redi |
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|image = Francesco Redi.jpg |
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|birth_date = {{birth date|1626|2|18|mf=y}} |
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|birth_place = [[Arezzo]], Italy |
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|death_date = {{death date and age|1697|3|1|1626|2|18|mf=y}} |
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|death_place = [[Pisa]], Italy |
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|nationality = [[Tuscany]] |
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|fields = [[Medicine]], [[entomology]], [[parasitology]], [[linguistics]] |
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|workplaces = [[Florence]] |
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|alma_mater = [[University of Pisa]] |
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|known_for = Experiments challenging [[spontaneous generation]] |
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}} |
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'''Francesco Redi''' (February 18, 1626 – March 1, 1697) was an [[Italy|Italian]] [[physician]], [[naturalist]], and [[poet]]. He was the first scientist to challenge the theory of [[spontaneous generation]] by demonstrating that [[maggot]]s come from eggs of [[fly|flies]].<ref name=lev>{{cite web |author= Levine R, Evers C|title=The Slow Death of Spontaneous Generation (1668-1859) |url= http://www.accessexcellence.org/RC/AB/BC/Spontaneous_Generation.php|accessdate=2013-04-18 |date= }}</ref> He was also the first to recognise and correctly describe details of many important [[parasites]], and for this reason, as many historians and scientists claim, he may rightly be called the father of modern parasitology,<ref name= ami>{{cite journal |author= Roncalli Amici R|title= The history of Italian parasitology |url= http://his.library.nenu.edu.cn/upload/soft/haoli/114/367.pdf |journal= Veterinary Parasitology |volume=98 |issue= 1-3| pages=3-10 |year=2001 |pmid=11516576 |doi= 10.1016/S0304-4017(01)00420-4}}</ref><ref name= mehl>{{cite book |author= Mehlhorn H|title= Encyclopedia of Parasitology, Volumes 1-2|url= http://books.google.co.in/books?id=Jpg1ysgVn-AC&pg|journal= Veterinary Parasitology | pages=610 |edition=3 |year=2008 |publisher= Springer-Verlag |isbn= 3540489940}}</ref> and also regarded as the founder of experimental biology.<ref name= lei>{{cite journal |author= Leikola A|title= Francesco Redi as a pioneer of experimental biology|url= |journal= Lychnos Lardomshist Samf Arsb |volume=1977-78 |issue= 1-3| pages=115-122|year=1977-78 |pmid=11628017|doi= }}</ref> |
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==Biography== |
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The son of Gregorio Redi and Cecilia de Ghinci was born in [[Arezzo]] on February 18, 1626. His father was a renowned physician at [[Florence]]. After schooling with the [[Jesuits]], he attended the [[University of Pisa]] from where he obtained his doctoral degrees in medical and philosophy in 1647, at the age of 21.<ref name= ami></ref> He constantly moved to [[Rome]], [[Naples]], [[Bologna]], [[Padua]], and [[Venice]], and finally settled in Florence in 1648. Here he was registered at the Collegio Medico where he served at the Medici Court as both the head physician and superintendent of the ducal [[apothecary]] to [[Ferdinando II de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany]] and his successor, [[Cosimo III de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany|Cosimo III]]. It is here that most of his academic works were achieved, which earned him membership in [[Accademia dei Lincei]]. He was also a member of the [[Accademia del Cimento]] (Academy of Experiment) from 1657 to 1667.<ref name=haw>{{cite journal |author= Hawgood BJ |title= Francesco Redi (1626-1697): Tuscan philosopher, physician and poet| journal= Journal of Medical Biography |year=2003| volume=11 |issue=1 |pages= 28-34 |pmid= 12522497}}</ref> |
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He died in his sleep on March 1, 1697, in Pisa and his remains were returned to Arezzo for interment.<ref name=bigelow>{{cite book |author= Francesco Redi of Arezzo |editor= Mab Bigelow (translation and notes) |title= Experiments on the Generation of Insects |url= http://books.google.com/books?id=w7ZRAAAAMAAJ&dq=Francesco+Redi+experiment&printsec=frontcover&ct=result#PPP7,M1 |accessdate= March 2, 2010 |origyear= 1668 |year= 1909 |publisher= Open Court |location= Chicago}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author= Francesco Redi of Arezzo |editor= Leigh Hunt (translation and notes) |title= Bacchus in Tuscany |url= http://books.google.com/books?id=iE8sAAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&cad=0#v=onepage |accessdate= March 2, 2010 |origyear= 1685 |year= 1825 |publisher= Printed by J. C. Kelly for John and H. L. Hunt |location= London}}</ref> |
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==Scientific career== |
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===Experimental toxinology=== |
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In 1664 Redi wrote his first monumental work ''Osservazioni intorno alle vipere'' (Observations about the Viper) to his friend Lorenzo Magalotti, secretary of the Accademia del Cimento. In this he began to break the prevailing scientific myths (which he called "unmasking of the untruths") such as [[vipers]] drink wine and shatter glasses, the [[venom]] is poisonous if swallowed, head of dead viper is an [[antidote]], the viper venom is produced from the [[gallbladder]], and so on. He explained rather how snake venom is unrelated to the snake’s bite, an idea contrary to popular belief.<ref>{{cite book |author= Francesco Redi |editor=Knoefel PK |title= Francesco Redi on Vipers |url= http://books.google.co.in/books?id=5w8VAAAAIAAJ&pg|accessdate= 2013-04-18 |origyear= |year= 1988 |publisher=E.J. Brill |location= Leiden, the Netherlands |page=11-17 |isbn= 9004089489}}</ref> He performed a series of experiments on the effects of snakebites, and demonstrated that venom was poisonous only when it enters the [[blood circulation|bloodstream]] via a bite, and that the [[fang]] contains venom in the form of yellow fluid.<ref name=haw/><ref name=hab>{{cite Journal |author= Habermehl GG|title= Francesco Redi¬—life and work|url= |year= 1994 |volume=32 |issue=4 |pages=411-417|pmid=8052995 |doi=10.1016/0041-0101(94)90292-5}}</ref> He even showed that by tight [[ligature (medicine)|ligature]] before the wound the passage of venom into the [[heart]] could be prevented. This work marked the beginning of experimental [[toxinology]]/[[toxicology]].<ref>{{cite book|author= Buettner KA |title= Francesco Redi (The Embryo Project Encyclopedia ) |url= http://embryo.asu.edu/view/embryo:124758 |accessdate=2013-04-18 |date=2007|issn= 1940-5030}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author= Hayes AN, Gilbert SG|title= Historical milestones and discoveries that shaped the toxicology sciences| journal= EXS|year=2009| volume=99 |issue=1 |pages= 1-35|pmid= 19157056}}</ref> |
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===Entomology and spontaneous generation=== |
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{{Main| Spontaneous generation}} |
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[[File:Francesco Redi Esperienze intorno alla Generazione degli Insetti.jpg|thumb|right| ''Esperienze Intorno alla Generazione degl'Insetti'' frontcover]] |
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Redi is most well known for his series of [[experiment]]s, published in 1668 as ''Esperienze Intorno alla Generazione degl'Insetti'' (''Experiments on the Generation of Insects''), which is regarded as his masterpiece and a milestone in the history of modern science. The book is one of the first steps in refuting "[[spontaneous generation]]" - a theory also known as Aristotelian [[abiogenesis]]. At the time, prevailing wisdom was that maggots arose spontaneously from rotting meat.<ref name=lev/> |
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[[File:Esperimento abiogenesi.jpg|thumb|left| Redi's experiment on abiogenesis]] Redi took six jars and divided in two groups of three: In one experiment, in the first jar of each group, he put an unknown object; in the second, a dead fish; in the last, a raw chunk of veal. Redi covered the tops of the first group jars with fine gauze so that only air could get into it. He left the other group open. After several days, he saw maggots appear on the objects in the open jars, on which flies had been able to land, but not in the gauze-covered jars. In the second experiment, meat was kept in three jars. One of the jars was uncovered, and two of the jars were covered, one with cork and the other one with gauze. Flies could only enter the uncovered jar, and in this, maggots appeared. In the jar that was covered with gauze, maggots appeared on the gauze but did not survive.<ref>{{cite web|title= Esperienze intorno alla generazione degl'insetti fatte da Francesco Redi |author =Redi F| url=http://fermi.imss.fi.it/rd/bdv?/bdviewer/bid=323861}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author= Barnett B |title= Francesco Redi and Spontaneous Generation |url= http://www.pasteurbrewing.com/Articles/spontaneous-generation/francesco-redi-and-spontaneous-generation.html|accessdate=2013-04-18 |date=30 September 2011}}</ref> |
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[[File:Francesco Redi Esperienze intorno alla Generazione degli Insetti Mosca della Ciliegia.jpg|thumb|right |Illustration from Rediʼs ''Esperienze Intorno alla Generazione degl'Insetti'']] |
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He continued his experiments by capturing the maggots and waiting for them to metamorphose, which they did, becoming flies. Also, when dead flies or maggots were put in sealed jars with dead animals or veal, no maggots appeared, but when the same thing was done with living flies, maggots did. Knowing full well the terrible fates of out-spoken scientists like [[Giordano Bruno]] and |
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[[Galileo Galilei]], Redi was careful to express his new views in a manner that would not contradict to theological tradition of the [[catholic church|Church]]; hence, his interpretations were always based on biblical passages, such as his famous adage: ''omne vivum ex vivo'' ("All life comes from life").<ref name= ami/><ref>{{cite journal |author= Gottdenker P|title= Francesco Redi and the fly experiments| journal= Bull Hist Med |year=1979| volume=53 |issue=4 |pages= 575-592 |pmid= 397843}}</ref> |
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===Parasitology=== |
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Redi was the first to describe [[ectoparasites]] in his ''Esperienze intorno alla generazione degli insetti''. His notable illustrations in the book are those relevant to [[ticks]], including deer and tiger ticks; it also contains first depiction of the larva of [[Cephenemyiinae]], the nasal flies of deer, as well as the sheep liver fluke (''[[Fasciola hepatica]]''). His next [[treatise]] in 1684 titled ''Osservazioni intorno agli animali viventi che si trovano negli animali viventi'' (''Observations on Living Animals, that are in Living Animals'') recorded the descriptions and the illustrations of more than 100 parasites. In it he also differentiates the [[earthworm]] (generally regarded as a [[helminth]]) and ''[[Ascaris lumbricoides]]'', the human roundworm. An important innovation from the book is his experiments in [[pharmacology|chemotherapy]] in which he employed the "[[scientific control|control]]"', the basis of experimental design in modern biological research.<ref name= ami/><ref name= lei/><ref>{{cite journal |author= Ioli A, Petithory JC, Théodoridès J|title= Francesco Redi and the birth of experimental parasitology| journal= Hist Sci Med |year=1997| volume=31 |issue=1 |pages= 61-66 |pmid= 11625103}}</ref> Altogether he is known to describe some 180 species of parasites. Perhaps, his most significant observation was that parasites produce eggs and develop from them, which contradicts the prevailing opinion that they are produced spontaneously.<ref>{{cite book |author= Bush AO, Fernández JC, Esch GW, Seed JR|editor= |title=Parasitism: The Diversity and Ecology of Animal Parasites |url= |accessdate= |origyear= |year= 2001 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location= Cambridge, UK| page= 4| isbn=0521664470}}</ref> |
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==Literary career== |
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As a [[poet]], Redi's best known work is the [[dithyramb]], ''Bacco in Toscana'' ("Bacchus in Tuscany"), which appeared posthumously, and is considered one of the best literary works of the 17th century. His bacchanalian poem in praise of Tuscan wines is still read in Italy today.<ref name=haw/> He was admitted to two literary societies: the [[Academy of Arcadia]] and the [[Accademia della Crusca]].<ref name=bigelow /> He was an active member of Crusca and supported the preparation of the Tuscan dictionary. He taught the Tuscan language as a ''lettore publio di lingua toscana'' in Florence in 1666. He also composed many other literary works, including his ''Letters'', and ''Arianna Inferma''.<ref name=haw/> |
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==Recognitions== |
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[[File:Francesco Redi-Uffizi.jpg|thumb|right| Statue of Francesco Red on Uffizi Gallery (Piazzale degli Uffizi) in Florence. At his feet is a copy of ''Bacco in Toscana'']] |
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*A [[impact crater|crater]] on [[Mars]] was named in his honour.<ref>{{cite web |author= SpaceRef|title=NASA Mars Odyssey THEMIS Image: Promethei Terra |url=http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewsr.html?pid=13674 |date= August 14, 2004 | accessdate=2013-04-18}}</ref> |
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*The [[Trematode lifecycle stages|larval stage of parasitic fluke]] called "redia" is named after Redi by another Italian zoologist, [[Filippo de Filippi]], in 1837.<ref name= ami/> |
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*The [[Redi Award]], the most prestigious award in toxinology, is given in his honour by the [[International Society on Toxinology]]. The award is made at each World Congress of IST (generally held every three years) since 1967.<ref name=hab></ref><ref>{{cite web |author= International Society on Toxinology |title=IST Redi Awards |url= http://www.toxinology.org/IST_RediAward.htm |date= | accessdate=2013-04-18}}</ref> |
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*A scientific journal ''Redia'', an Italian journal of zoology, is named in his honour, which was first published in 1903.<ref>{{cite web |author= REDIA – Journal of Zoology|title=History |url= http://www.redia.it/storia|date= | accessdate=2013-04-18}}</ref> |
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==See also== |
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*[[Parasitology]] |
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*[[List of craters on Mars: O-Z]] |
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==References== |
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{{Reflist}} |
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==Further reading== |
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*{{cite book |
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|title= Lingua e cultura di Francesco Redi, medico |
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|author= Altieri Biagi, Maria Luisa |
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|publisher= L. S. Olschki |
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|year= 1968 |
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|authorlink= Maria Luisa Altieri Biagi |
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|location= Florence |
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|isbn= |
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|asin=B00A30Z37W |
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|ref=Reference-Altieri Biagi-1968}} |
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==External links== |
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*[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12687b.htm Francesco Redi] entry in the [[Catholic Encyclopedia]] |
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*[http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&id=w7ZRAAAAMAAJ&dq=Francesco+Redi+experimen ''Experiments on the Generation of Insects'', translation of the 5th edition (1688)] |
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*[http://www.classicitaliani.it/seicento/Redi_Bacco_in_Toscana.htm Bacco in Toscana] (English translation: [http://books.google.com/books?id=iE8sAAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_v2_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q=&f=false Bacchus in Tuscany]) |
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*[http://www.princeton.edu/~achaney/tmve/wiki100k/docs/Francesco_Redi.html Francesco Redi at Princeton.edu] |
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*[http://katringale.wikispaces.com/B1,+Aiken,+Margaret,+Francesco+Redi Biography at Katringale] |
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*[http://www.francesco-redi.com/ Biographical Website of Francesco Redi] |
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*[http://faculty.sdmiramar.edu/dtrubovitz/micro/history/Redi.html Rediʼs Experiment] |
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*[http://www.famousscientists.org/francesco-redi/ Famous Scientists: Francisco Redi] |
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*[http://galileo.rice.edu/Catalog/NewFiles/redi.html Francisco Redi at the Galileo Project] |
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*[http://www.kettererkunst.com/bio/francesco-redi-1626.shtml Francisco Redi at Ketterer Kunst] |
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*[http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Francesco+Redi Francisco Redi at The Free Dictionary] |
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*[http://www.infoplease.com/encyclopedia/people/redi-francesco.html Francisco Redi at Infoplease] |
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*[http://birthstory.net/history/spontaneous-generation-and-francesco-redi/ Spontaneous generation and Francesco Redi] |
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*[http://www.scientus.org/Redi-Galileo.html Galileo's Twin] |
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{{Authority control|VIAF=84814826}} |
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{{Persondata <!-- Metadata: see [[Wikipedia:Persondata]]. --> |
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| NAME = Redi, Francesco |
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| ALTERNATIVE NAMES = |
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| SHORT DESCRIPTION = |
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| DATE OF BIRTH = February 18, 1626 |
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| PLACE OF BIRTH = [[Arezzo]] |
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| DATE OF DEATH = March 1, 1697 |
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| PLACE OF DEATH = [[Pisa]] |
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}} |
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Redi, Francesco}} |
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[[Category:1626 births]] |
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[[Category:1697 deaths]] |
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[[Category:People from Arezzo]] |
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[[Category:17th-century Italian physicians]] |
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[[Category:Italian entomologists]] |
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[[Category:Italian poets]] |
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[[Category:University of Pisa alumni]] |
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[[Category:17th-century scientists]] |
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[[Category:Empiricists]] |
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[[Category:Members of the Academy of Arcadians]] |
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