SEVENTEENTH AND EIGHTEENTH CENTURIES 151 



i. Attempts at a Mechanical Explanation of Life -phenomena 



Giovanni Alfonso Borelli was born at Naples in 1608. His father had been 

 an officer in the service of Spain. At an early age young Alfonso showed a 

 marked genius for mathematics; in order to complete his education in this 

 subject he went to the University of Pisa. There Galileo had once been pro- 

 fessor and he now lived, an honoured and influential man, as court astrono- 

 mer in the neighbouring city of Florence. It was not surprising, therefore, 

 that Borelli was won over to his physical and astronomical theories, and he 

 entered with ardour into the new field of research which they opened up for 

 him. After a period of deep study he was elected professor at the University 

 of Messina by the Government of his country, and there he gave instruction 

 for some years. Conditions at that university, however, were limited and 

 offered him no scope, wherefore Borelli returned in 1656 to Pisa, whence he 

 was summoned to Florence in the following year. In the latter city the disci- 

 ples of Galileo had founded a free academy, called "Accademia del cimento"; 

 here Borelli found employment and worked for ten years. He went in seri- 

 ously for medical studies with a view to applying Galileo's physical princi- 

 ples to medicine. Unfortunately for him, however, he was induced by the 

 promise of a higher salary to return to Messina. As a matter of fact, shortly 

 afterwards, in 1674, ^^^ inhabitants of that city formed a conspiracy against 

 Spanish rule in Sicily. The rebellion having been quelled, Borelli, who had 

 leagued himself with his countrymen, had to save himself by flight. Ruined, 

 the already ageing philosopher arrived at Rome and there at first obtained 

 employment in the service of Queen Christina of Sweden, who in her exile, 

 as once she had done in her native land, loved to surround herself with distin- 

 guished scientists. For some years he remained her private physician and 

 actually dedicated the best of his writings to her. But a fresh misfortune 

 befell him; through the dishonesty of a subordinate he was again ruined, 

 and the Queen, whose own aff'airs were, as is well known, in a bad way, was 

 unable to assist him. He had to take refuge in a monastery, and there he died, 

 in 1679. 



The movements of animals 

 BoRELLi's restless life may possibly have been due to his temperament, which 

 is said to have been reserved and morose. However, he enjoyed a universal 

 reputation as one of the foremost scientists of his time, and his literary 

 production was of an exceptionally many-sided character. He carried on his . 

 teacher Galileo's work in physics and astronomy. But his books on these 

 subjects, however valuable they may have been, were entirely overshadowed 

 by his great biological work, De motu ani?nalium, which was published in the 

 same year in which he died, dedicated, as mentioned above, to Queen Chris- 

 tina, who, according to the preface, defrayed the cost of printing. Through 



