Giovanni Schiaparelli

Giovanni Virginio Schiaparelli, born March 14, 1835, was an Italian astronomer and science historian. He studied at the University of Turin and the Berlin Observatory, primarily on objects within the solar system. In 1859-1860 he worked in the Pulkovo Observatory and then worked for over forty years at the Brera Observatory. He was also a senator of the Kingdom of Italy, a member of the Accademia dei Lincei, the Accademia delle Scienze di Torino and the Regio Istituto Lombardo. He is particularly known for his studies of Mars and his observations on many objects within the solar system and outside.


Giovanni's greatest contribution to science was his telescopic observations of Mars. Mars was in opposition in 1877 making it easier for him to observe it. When Giovanni first saw the planet, he mapped the "seas" and "continents" of it, but called the linear structures "canali" which means channels in Italian, but was translated as canals. Everyone knew that canals are created by artificial construction which is where the assumption that there must be life on Mars originated and so the Martians were born. Giovanni did write in his book however that if there was life on Mars, they would be in the channels because that would be the most likely area for water to be. 


Giovanni also observed many other objects, such as the asteroid 69 Hesperia on April 26, 1861. His observation led him to hypothesize that  the Perseids and Leonids meteor showers were associated with comets. He proved, for example, that the orbit of the Leonids meteor shower coincided with that of the Comet Tempel-Tuttle. Giovanni also extensively observed binary stars. 


Giovanni was also interested in classical astronomy and considered himself a scholar.  He was the first to realize that the concentric spheres of Eudoxus of Cnidus and Callippus, unlike those used by many astronomers of later times, were not to be taken as material objects, but only as part of an algorithm similar to the modern Fourier series.


Giovanni was commemorated for his observations and received many awards. He won the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society in 1872 and the Bruce Medal in 1902. In addition many objects in the solar system were named after him. Such as Asteroid 4062 Schiaparelli, The crater Schiaparelli on the Moon, and The crater Schiaparelli on Mars. 


Overall, Giovanni Schiaparelli's contribution to science was great. His observations, while stirring some sci-fi interest with Martians, really did help people understand the surface of the red planet more. In addition, his studies on comets and their meteor showers led to the conclusion of them being associated together. He may not be an Isaac Newton, but he left his mark on history.