Giovanni battista della porta biography youtube

Giambattista della Porta spent the majority of his life on scientific endeavours. He benefited from an informal education of tutors and visits from renowned scholars. His most famous work, first published in , is entitled Magia Naturalis Natural Magic. He was also referred to as "professor of secrets". He was the third of four sons and the second to survive childhood, having an older brother Gian Vincenzo and a younger brother Gian Ferrante.

His father had a thirst for learning, a trait he would pass on to all of his children. He surrounded himself with distinguished people and entertained the likes of philosophers, mathematicians, poets, and musicians. The atmosphere of the house resembled an academy for his sons. The members of the learned circle of friends stimulated the boys, tutoring and mentoring them, under the strict guidance of their father.

In addition to having talents for the sciences and mathematics, all the brothers were also extremely interested in the arts, music in particular. Despite their interest, none of them possessed any sort of talent for it, but they did not allow that to stifle their progress in learning theory. They were all accepted into the Scuola di Pitagora , a highly exclusive academy of musicians.

HISTORY OF THE DISCOVERY OF

More aware of their social position than the idea that his sons could have professions in science, Nardo Antonio raised the boys more as gentlemen than as scholars. Therefore, the boys struggled to learn to sing, as that was considered a courtly accomplishment of gentlemen. They were taught to dance, ride, perform well in tournaments and games, and dress well.