Riccioli, Giovanni Battista

Riccioli, Giovanni Battista, an Italian astronomer and Jesuit, was born at Ferrara in 1598, and was professor of philosophy, theology, etc., at Bologna and Parma. By authority of his superiors, he devoted himself to astronomy, that he might confute the Copernican system, which he attempted to do in his Almagestum Novum (1651, 2 vols.). According to his theory, the sun, moon, Jupiter, and Saturn revolve around the earth; while Mercury, Venus, and Mars are satellites of the sun. He also published an able treatise on mathematical geography and hydrography in 1661, and Astronomia Reformata in 1665. He died in 1671. See Fabroni, Vitoe Italorum Doc. Excel.; Tiraboschi, Storia della Letteratura Italiana.