SERPIERI, ALESSANDRO. - Piarist scientist,
b. at S. Giovanni di Marignano, near Rimini, on
31 Oct. 1825, d. at the Collegio della Badia Fiesolana,
on 22 Feb. 1885.
An astronomer, physicist, and seismologist, he taught experi-
mental physics at the University of Urbino, attaining fame as
an eminent master in astronomy and meteorology, physics and
seismology. He studied shooting stars and the zodiacal light in
particular. The severe earthquakes in Italy in 1873 and
1875 found in him a mind suited and prepared to draw
important conclusions from them. Noteworthy were his books
on the new doctrines of electrical poten-
tial, immediately translated into several lan-
guages. The name of S., one of the greatest
physicists of the last century, quickly sur-
passed the narrow confines of the small Uni-
versity. When the Piarists were expelled from
Urbino, he withdrew to the Collegio della Badia Fiesolana.