Galileo Ferraris

The infancy passed to Livorno is rich of anecdotes premonitory approximately its vocation of scientist: the uncle Antonio in fact was forced to construct a model of the bell tower in order to satisfy physical the curiosity bell, while of the railway feature at the opening Turin - Santhià was looked at to rush every day to the local station for rejoice of the power of the steam train and its mysterious devices.

The beautiful anecdote comes to us remembered from Firpo in “Galileo Ferraris” (Electro technical, October 1973): “… child  , taken a day all the books decommissioned from the greater brother on which he succeeded to put hand and he went to take to place on a bench of the quarter class in the communal school; to the master who asked astonished to it as he had happened in that classroom he answered: “I do not want at all to become an ass,”, I came thus accompanied in before, very small volunteer, before having touched the prescribed age… ”.

In January of 1855 it hit a premature mourning, dying the mother Antonia Messia of which keep always a “sacred edifying memory” while hardly ten-year-old it was forced to abandon the Livorno mistress and the heat of the family in order to attend to Turin the gymnasium, lodging in the house of the paternal uncle, the doctor Carl, in via Cavour, and only the dedication under consideration it could partially ease the painful separation.

The 29 September 1869, not still twenty-two years, obtained the bachelor in civil engineering, submitted on varied thesis, of which it published, in the same year, the main one: “On the telodinamiche transmissions of Hirn”; first stone of its contribution to science.

The following year, the first February, accepted the place of assistant to the technical physical chair in the Regal industrial Museum of Turin occupied from prof. the Giovanni Codazza to which it had to happen like person in charge in 1877 after a sept of collaboration and mutual formation.

Died of the brother

Only new of these years it was the loss of the brother Adam, fallen to Digione 23 the January 1871, for which it was thrown with more fervent lena in the job; to a friend it wrote: “I cannot that to study; I do not see other greater consolation between the desirable ones, than that of being able to apply the studied things, to create”.

In the same year (4 January) enrolled to the Society of the Engineers and Architects of Turin, of which he will be president in years 1882/83.

The following year introduced a thesis for the aggregation to the faculty of sciences “On the mathematical theory of the propagation of the solid electricity in the homogenous ones”.

In August of 1875, in quality of Italian delegate it came sent to Breteuil for the second international conference of weights and measures and two

years after it published an interesting study on “the properties of the diottrici instruments”: they followed various studies and memories, than united to the relations, were published posthumous from the Italian Electro technical Association, Milan - Hoepli, 1902-1904 - in three comprising volumes the entire work of the scientist.

You open in it them of 1879, held to Turin five conferences “On the lighting system electrical worker” that hit the attention of on. Federico Spantigati, president of the industrial Museum, which proposed its nomination from person in charge in ordinary, to single thirty-two years, without competition “for deserved reputation of singular skill”.

To Turin it came encircled from sincere esteem and friendship and in 1880 was ascribed between the ordinary associates of the Academy of Agriculture (3 February) and between the national associates residents of the Academy of Sciences (5 Decembers).

It participated therefore to various the great international exposures which Italian representative for which it was to Paris in 1881 and 1882, to Vienna in the 83, Turin in the 84, newly to Paris in the 89, Frankfurt in the '91 and Chicago in the '93: in the first conference of Paris it held a relation “On the industrial applications of the electric current” while to the Turin exposure he was president of the international Jury, let alone official Italian representative and main organizer of the manifestation.

In February 1884 it came also name university professor of general physical to the School of War.

The rotary magnetic field

In the May-June of 1885, finally the more important result of its studies, the success of its searches: “If they are introduced in two or more alternate running circuits than equal frequency but of various phase enough to orient the circuits in way correspondent to the phase differences in order to obtain from an immovable device a rotary magnetic field”.

The student Ernesto Thovez had the fortune and the pleasure to assist to the experiment little minutemen after before the test and described thus it: “… hardly reached in laboratory (the Ferraris) it removed a coil from a galvanometer and it made some to construct an other from the mechanic. These were a little slow and the Ferraris, perhaps the only time while still alive its, was irritated some; but after some days it had the coil finally. Then, using an old Gaulard transformer that the era served for its memorable studies, for means of inductances and resistances gained from an only current two derived currents, sfasate one regarding the other. Between the two coils suspended a cilindretto of copper. The cilindretto it was placed to turn, at first slowly, then quickly. The motor to alternating current uncovered era” .

The companies come electrical workers to found again acquaintance of the new one gave the hunting to the license with tempting offering receiving for answer that the result of own job never was not held secret and therefore meant to leave it of public dominion; to it blamed it to who, it answered: “They are a university professor not a manufacturer”.

While it was gone creating a   controversy approximately the priority of the invention between the Ferraris that a scientific memory in March 1888 had introduced and the engineer Nikolas American Tesla that had recorded a license the first May of the same year (43 days after): two figures clearly distinguished, the Ferraris a scientist, the Tesla a junior clerk to the industry.

It was not late however the Ferraris to being recognized the true discoverer of the rotary magnetic field and already in 1891 to the exposure of Frankfurt, where, name vice president September) in virtue of its was called to the presidency in second sitting (12 important discovery. In the July of the same year it already wrote to the Candellero: “The greater satisfaction was for having seen to me like all or here full of the Drehfeld Oder Ferrarischefeld and like all they attribute to me the honor of the invention” and to the Fat people it wrote: “The others make the money, to me enough those that is up to me: the name”.

To Frankfurt it returned in 1889 in order to resolve the distribution of the electric power in said city, in collaboration with university professors Kitter, Lindley, Uppenborn and Weber.

In 1887 while the first university laboratory of such discipline, formally instituted had instituted in the industrial Museum a special course of electrical engineering placing in existence with decree real of 14 November 1888.

It is the moment of the medal: the 16 June 1889 is associate correspondent of the “Real Institute Veneto of Scienze, Letters and Limbs”; 4 August 1892 is associate of the “Society of the XL” and in the same day it is ascribed between the associates of the prestigious “Academy of the Members of the Accademia dei Lincei” of which July of the year was corresponding associate already sin from the 18 precedence. ,

In 1893, to Chicago, it came name vice president of the international exposure and also in America with tacit assent the first idea of the invention was recognized it: visit allowed the American it to know Edison, lodging in its room, which will be able to define it, in 1925, with cognition of the greatest cause “between the large ones that to the world they have revealed the beauty of science electrical worker”

During the intense activities of the conference “Henry” came defined from Galileo Ferraris the unit of measure of the induction coefficient.

In 1896 he participated to the conference of Geneva where he devised the formation of an Italian Electro technical Association, founded officially 27 December of the same year to Milan, of which he was for applause the first president; 25 October of the same year the Italian government at the same time name the Faldella friend, senator of the Reign: not for politics but in acknowledgment of its scientific contributions and the high international prestige.

To politics but it had been approached in order to acquit a civic and moral duty: in 1887 the city council member charge also came elect with wide suffrage communal councilman of Turin, covering; in 1895 he was elect communal councilman of Livorno, charge that will maintain until to the dead women.

In political thought the Firpo (People of Piemonte - Milan 1983, pag. 244) from there draw the following conclusions “were not made for politics: a federalistica structure had vagheggiato for Italy, than slowly of it attenuated to the economic sperequazioni and the municipal rivalries, and direction found again itself more for nomination member of ligio the assembly of the unitary monarchy; it tried distrust for the Socialism, perhaps an instinctive aversion, but it had not lacked to join 1885 since, to the Society laborer of its Livorno, to which it did not neglect to send discreet contributions of money”.

To Livorno in festivity for the high acknowledgment (nomination to senator), Galileo Ferraris with a memorable speech 6 January 1897 left to mean its moral testament.

In January 1897 Metric Italian came name president of the Advanced Commission.

31 January, after a Sunday of assiduous job, it hit a strong fever but the morning following it wanted stoically to introduce itself punctual to the lessons: after half hour it was tired out “Gentleman, the machine is out of order, I cannot continue”.

A week after, 7 February 1897, Galileo Ferraris stopped to live; they were the 17,25 in its room of via XX September in Turin: it had not still completed the fifty years of age.

Unanimous the condolences of the world, particularly Livorno and Turin, respective adoptive native land born them and, knew and wanted to send back of the memory to the posters.

Livorno in the 1897 fortified of lighting system electrical worker, first Municipality in the vercellese, a year before the chief town; in the 1902 discovered a beautifulest monument operates of the sculptor fiorentino Ildebrando Bastiani in the main public square to dedicated he; in the 1925 fregiò with honor of its name changing itself own in Livorno Ferraris; in 1931 it inaugurated a Sacrario Museum in order to hand on of to the posterity life and works; in the 1947 (centennial one of the birth) and 1975 (fiftieth one of the titration of Livorno Ferraris) wanted riaggiornarne the value dedicating a festivity in order thank it to have today allowed to the Livornesi of boast of its inheritance.