BIZIO, BARTOLOMEO. - Chemist, b. at Vicenza on
30 Oct. 1791, d. at Venice in 1862; considered among
the greatest scientists of his time by Fr. Secchi
in the preface to his book on the Unity of physical
forces and remembered abroad as a precursor of the
most modern views of science.
His studies On the purple of the ancients
are memorable; the discovery of copper in various mollusks; the explanation
of the phenomenon of purple polenta, which made him a forerunner of microbiology; the numerous series of researches
in biological chemistry and studies in physical chemistry collected
in his work Chemical dynamics, where he studies the surface
tension of liquids and anticipates his contemporaries
in the study of chemical affinities, of catalysis, of
pseudo-solutions, on the repulsive tremor in the surface molecules
of bodies.
This «noble vieillard» as one of his apologists
defined him at the Institute of France in 1860 was also a good
writer, a student of Italian letters, praised by Fr. Ce-sari; a member of the «Società Ital. delle Scienze» known
as that of the Forty, and of the Italian Institute of Sciences; he lived
for science and for his family. «Faithful to the most holy religion
of his forefathers he punctually followed both its practices
and its precepts and therefore with the true resignation of a
Christian he endured those trials of body and of spirit
wherewith it pleased Providence to visit him throughout his
life here below» so testifies Dr. Pazienti in the eulogy
read at the meeting of 28 Dec. 1862 at the Venetian Institute
of Sciences and Letters. In the bibliography of his writings
109 memoirs and communications to various scientific
periodicals, Italian and foreign, and to numerous academies are recorded.
Bibliography2 works
Giulio Provenzal