Arduino was born at Caprino Veronese, Veneto.

He divided the history of the Earth into three periods: Primitive, Secondary, and Tertiary.

These were (in addition to the Volcanic or Quaternary) as follows: the Primary series, which consisted of schists from the core of the mountains; the Secondary, which consisted of the hard sedimentary rocks on the mountain flanks; and the Tertiary, which consisted of the less hardened sedimentary rocks of the foothills.

Because this arrangement did not always hold true for mountain ranges other than the Alps, the Primary and the Secondary were dropped in the general case.

However, the term 'Tertiary' has persisted in geological literature until its recent replacement by the Palaeogene and Neogene periods.