With his former student Tullio Levi-Civita, he wrote his most famous single publication,[2] a pioneering work on the calculus of tensors, signing it as Gregorio Ricci.

Ricci-Curbastro also published important works in other fields, including a book on higher algebra and infinitesimal analysis,[3] and papers on the theory of real numbers, an area in which he extended the research begun by Richard Dedekind.

The following year the Papal State fell and so Gregorio was called by his father to the city of his birth, Lugo di Romagna.

In fact absolute differential calculus had a crucial role in developing the theory, as is shown in a letter written by Albert Einstein to Ricci-Curbastro's nephew.

He is honoured by mentions in various Academies amongst which are: He participated actively in political life, both in his native town and in Padua, and contributed with his projects to the Ravenna-area land drainage and the Lugo aqueduct.