Giovanni Alfonso Borelli

Giovanni Alfonso Borelli was born on 28 January 1608 in Naples, Italy. He was the son of a Spanish infantryman and a local woman. Borelli studied mathematics at Sapienza University of Rome under Benedetto Castelli. He served as a Professor of Mathematics in Messina, Sicily, from 1635 to 1656. During this time, he investigated the causes of a malignant fever, attributing it to airborne infection. He also published revised editions of Euclid's Elements and Apollonius of Perga's Conics. Around 1655, he was invited to the University of Pisa, where he later became head of mathematics. There, he met Marcello Malpighi and became a founding member of the Accademia del Cimento. His studies of animal movement led to his title, 'Father of Biomechanics.' Borelli's investigations into comet orbits suggested they moved around the sun, a theory published under a pseudonym due to its controversial nature. He returned to Messina in 1668 and joined anti-Spanish forces. In 1674, he was exiled to Rome, where he became Queen Christina of Sweden's physician and consultant. Borelli spent his final years in poverty, teaching mathematics and working on his seminal publication, 'De Motu Animalium,' which analyzed animal functions mechanically. The book, published posthumously, was dedicated to Queen Christina. Borelli died in Rome on 31 December 1679.