Francesco Redi: Poet and Physician

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Francesco Redi, son of Gregorio Redi and Cecilia de Ghinci, was born in Arezzo, Italy on February 18, 1626 and was the oldest of nine brothers (“Francesco Redi”). First he attended Jesuitical schools in Florence. Then in 1647 he graduated in Philosophy and Medicine in Pisa (“The Life of Francesco Redi”). He constantly moved to Rome, Naples, Bologna, Padua, and Venice. He served as a tutor to the Colonna family in Rome for five years and ended up in Florence in 1648. In Florence he went to the Collegio Medico where he was the head physician and superintendent of the apothecary, which is pharmacy. Also in Florence he acted as personal physician to the Grand Dukes Ferdinand II & Cosimo III (“Francesco Redi”). He then studied French, German, English and Spanish, which were considered the most important languages. From 1650 to 1654 he lived in Rome as a guest of the Cardinal Column (“The Life of Francesco Redi”).
Redi was a poet as well as a physician. He was the first member of the Arcadia and also a member of Crusca Academy, where he contributed to the making of the Dictionary. He not only included the words used from the greatest writers of the 1300's, but also the common speech of his century. All around Europe Redi was known as a famous doctor. He was the son of a doctor who worked for the Grand Duke of Tuscany and when his father died, he became his first doctor. Redi was also one of the most important members of the Cimento Academy, Academy of Experiment, from 1657 to 1667. The Academy reunited scientists devoted to Galileo Galilei's work (“The Life of Francesco Redi”) .
One of the central qualities of Redi was that he always attempted to disregard superstitions and the religious principles that contrasted his scientific sear...

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..."redia" is named after Redi by another Italian zoologist in 1837. A scientific Italian journal of zoology published in 1903, is named “Redia” in his recognition. The Redi Award, the most prestigious award in toxinology, is given in his honor by the International Society on Toxinology every three years since 1967. Also even a crater on Mars was named in his honor. His contributions to the world of science are endless and he shaped new concepts and beliefs in the 17th century that have carried to today.

Works Cited

“Francesco Redi.” Wikipedia. 5 Dec 2013. Web. 9 Dec 2013. .
Gale Group. World of Scientific Discovery. Thomson Gale, 1998.
Knoefel, Peter. Francesco Redi on Vipers. The Netherlands: Brill, 1988.
“The Life of Francesco Redi.” The Abiogenesis. Web. 5 Dec 2013. .

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