Vittorio Francesco Stancari

Vittorio Francesco Stancari (1678 – 1709) was a professor of mathematics at the University of Bologna who undertook research into the measurement of sounds, and into optics and hydrostatics.

[1] Stancari was one of a group of young men at the University who became interested in the techniques of Cartesian geometry and differential calculus, and who engaged in experiments and astronomical observation.

[1] Stancari's dissertations and manuscripts show that he applied Leibnizian calculus to problems of physics, hydrodynamics, meteorology and mechanics.

[4] Stancari developed a method of measuring the pitch of sound in 1706, using foil that was excited into vibration by rotating toothed wheels.

[1] Working in the observatory founded by Count Marsigli,[5] Stancari and Eustachio Manfredi discovered the comet C/1707 W1 in the evening of 25 November 1707.