[1][2] Following a syphilis epidemic that slaughtered the city in the early 18th century, Campailla devoted himself to a systematic search for chemical substances which would cure the infectious disease.

Through this practice, but also thanks to the success of some works on fevers and a treatise on physiology influenced by the iatrophysicist Borelli,[3] Campailla brought the Modica school of medicine to the forefront.

[4] Campailla's most significant work was the philosophical poem in twenty cantos L'Adamo, ovvero il mondo creato (Adam or the created world).

The poem describes Adam, the first human (a symbol of good nature that has not yet been corrupted), discovering and contemplating the truths and beauties of the created universe through the help of the archangel Raphael.

In 1723, Berkeley sent Campailla from London Newton's Principia and Opticks “as a pledge of sincere friendship” («tamquam sincerae amicitiae pignus»).

[5] He informed Campailla that he had given his books "Viro erudito e Societate Regia", "qui cum solertiam, & ingenium tuum pro meritis extimet, tum id plurimum miratur, tantum scientiae lumen in extremo Siciliae angulo tam diu delituisse."

[7] Campailla's dialogues were highly commended by the secretary of the French Academy of Sciences Bernard Le Bovier de Fontenelle.