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| Giambattista della Porta (1535?-1615) |
“The scientist does not study nature because it is useful; he studies it because he delights in it, and he delights in it because it is beautiful.” – Heinri Poincaré (1854-1912)
The (natural) sciences, geography and history are subjects that have always fascinated me. This is probably why I have always enjoyed walking the seemingly endless halls of this wonderfully vast edifice known as the American Museum of Natural History. Looking at all the exhibits, one cannot help but get a taste of all my favorite subjects. With 25 interconnected buildings that house 46 permanent exhibition halls, research laboratories and a library that is world-renowned, the museum is truly one of the wonders of the modern age.
I recall reading somewhere once that famed British evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins, when witnessing the “firing up” of a new, state of the art telescope designed to peer into the outermost reaches of the universe, exclaimed that he never felt prouder of our species than at that moment. I feel the same way whenever I come here, which is why I visit often. It is at once both a humbling and exalting experience. If you can manage the trip here just once in your lifetime I heartily recommend it!
We humans have a tendency to take for granted the things which make our lives easier and more fulfilling. Though we may be cognizant of the fact, it is still difficult for many to truly fathom that at one time these things did not exist. Americans especially seem to be guilty of this foible. One cannot pin the entire blame on them. America, after all, is a huge country (in terms of land area and population) that for decades has been one of the centers of affluence and culture here on earth. One could spend their entire life travelling these United States without ever going abroad, not feeling deprived for it.
Maybe it’s because of my passion for history, but whenever I stare at superstructures like the American Museum of Natural History I find myself sometimes wondering what it was like before they existed. What was it like to live in a world devoid of the knowledge that we today too often take for granted? In the case of this natural history museum, who was the man (or men) who first sought to build such a structure, to ignite the fires of imagination in his fellows to learn to better understand the world in which they lived?
The circumstances surrounding Giambattista della Porta’s birth are somewhat shrouded in mystery. It is known he was born in the Campanian town of Vico Equense (now part of the Greater Bay of Naples Metropolitan Area) to a minor Neapolitan noble family. Exactly when is not known but is believed by most modern historians to be sometime late in the year 1535. His father’s name was Nardo Antonio della Porta. Giambattista was the third of four sons and only one of two to reach adulthood.
He was the child of privilege whose father sought to instill in his sons his own love of learning. The della Porta household was a place that frequently entertained poets, musicians, philosophers and mathematicians. Being raised (and tutored) in such an environment stimulated the boys’ imagination, giving them the well-rounded education their father wished for them.
Giambattista della Porta’s keen intellect revealed itself at a comparatively early age. By the age of ten he was already composing essays in both Latin and Italian. His father sent him and his brother Gian Vincenzo with their uncle on a tour of Europe that included all of Italy, Spain and France.
Nardo Antonio della Porta’s sons showed an affinity for the sciences and mathematics. Nevertheless, he encouraged them to study singing and music, as well, in spite of the fact none of them had any talent as such. Yet by doing this he helped to make his sons (especially Giambattista) come to appreciate the finer things in life, instilling in him an attitude that would carry over into his adult life when he would seek out noble company to aid him in becoming a true Renaissance man.
He published his first work Magia Naturalis, sive de miraculis rerum naturalium in Naples in 1558. It achieved immediate popularity, being republished in Latin at least five times over the next 10 years as well as being translated into Italian (1560), French (1565) and Dutch (1566). In the preface della Porta claims the first edition of his “Natural Magick” was translated into Spanish and Arabic as well!
A polymath, Giambattista della Porta wrote at length on a variety of subjects. His next major published work was entitled De Furtivis Literarum Notis, a work on cryptography. As far as is known he was the first to describe what is known today as “digraphic substitution cipher”, foreshadowing the concept of polyalphabetic substitution. Noted scholar of cryptology Charles J. Mendelsohn said of him:
“He was, in my opinion, the outstanding cryptographer of the Renaissance. Some unknown who worked in a hidden room behind closed doors may possibly have surpassed him in general grasp of the subject, but among those whose work can be studied he towers like a giant.”
In 1586 della Porta wrote De humana physiognomonia libri IIII, a detailed work on the still-controversial subject of physiognomy. By this time, though, interest in the subject was rapidly waning throughout Europe. Two centuries later, however, the book would influence Swiss pastor Johann Kaspar Lavater (1741-1801), who helped revive interest in it.
While still a young man, della Porta founded the Academia Secretorum Naturae in Naples in 1560. It was the first scientific society in modern history. Its members nicknamed themselves Ostia (men of leisure). Prospective members had to present a new fact in natural science as a condition for membership; otherwise membership was open to all. This Academy would become the prototype for all later scientific societies including the famous Royal Society of London.
For Giambattista della Porta, “Natural Magick” encompassed interest not only in the embryonic world of the natural sciences, but in what we today would call the Occult. He was especially interested in the pseudo-science of alchemy. This was not at all unusual at the time, even for learned men. In fact, as late as the latter part of the 17th century no less a personage as the great Isaac Newton dabbled extensively in alchemy! This was understandable, since even at that time there was as yet no clear distinction between alchemy and the modern sciences of physics and chemistry.
Nevertheless, the Roman Catholic Church, especially the “Holy Office” of the Inquisition, took an exceedingly dim view of people who dabbled in such subjects. Della Porta was summoned to Rome to stand before Pope Paul V to give an account of himself and his society. Though he emerged from the meeting unscathed, he was charged by the Pope not to dabble any further in “things unknown” and was forced to disband his Academy under suspicion of sorcery in 1578. Years later (1610) he would join the Accademia dei Lincei (It: “Academy of the Lynxes”); a scientific society whose founder, Federico Cesi, was inspired by della Porta.
Della Porta the prolific writer churned out books on a number of topics over the years. Among other things he wrote an agricultural encyclopedia entitled Villa, as well as works on meteorology, astronomy and optics.
It is that last subject that is especially interesting, for there is tantalizing evidence Giambattista della Porta was one of the first creators of the device today we call the telescope. The earliest known working telescopes appeared in the Netherlands in 1608 and are generally credited to a German-Dutch lens-maker by the name of Hans Lippershey (1570-1619). Sacharias Jansen of Middleburg and Jacob Metius of Alkmaar, two contemporaries of Lippershey, also claimed credit.
However, in the 1589 publication of his magnum opus Magia Naturalis, Giambattista della Porta wrote the following:
"With a Concave lens you shall see small things afar off very clearly. With a Convex lens, things nearer to be greater, but more obscurely. If you know how to fit them both together, you shall see both things afar off, and things near hand, both greater and clearly."
Who actually created the first telescope is really not as important as who was the first to realize its importance in the furthering of science and use it for such a purpose. That honor, of course, goes to the “Father of Modern Science”, Galileo Galilei of Pisa! Galileo took Lippershey’s crude device and improved it, allowing him to study the cosmos in ways no other astronomer before him could have done.
Ironically, just months before Galileo announced his momentous discoveries, Giambattista della Porta had dismissed the telescope as “unimportant”, being too busy trying to perfect an occult-like device that supposedly would allow two people to communicate at a distance (“Taumatologia”). He would later express regret for doing this, but the window of opportunity was closed in that regard.
This more than anything illustrated della Porta’s great weakness: his obsession with secrets. He believed that great knowledge was only meant for princes, not the masses. He dabbled in esoteric sciences the followers of Galileo were already dismissing. He was frequently referred to as the “Professor of secrets”, a title he relished. In fact, he obfuscated his own date of birth, probably to give more of an air of mystery about him. In the end, it probably cost him a much loftier place in the history books.
Ahhh, only if, Giambattista, only if.
In spite of this, he made a significant number of contributions to a variety of fields including Agriculture, Hydraulics, Instruments, Military Engineering and Pharmacology. In 1606 he wrote a book on raising water by the force of the air.
As he grew older, della Porta liked to collect rare specimens and grow exotic plants and fungi. In his book Phytognomonica he lists plants according to their geographical points of origin. In this same work he also was the first to observe fungi spores. For this he is considered one of the pioneers of the science of mycology.
One especially splendid contribution he made to the sciences was in the establishment of a private natural history museum on his estate. It was visited by travelers from all over Europe. One of whom was the renowned German Jesuit scholar Athanasius Kircher, who was so impressed by it he later built his own larger and more famous version in Rome, the Museum Kircherianum. Thus, it can be rightfully argued Giambattista della Porta is the “Father of Natural History Museums”, if not museums altogether!
This wonderful polymath was a productive writer in the field of Drama as well. His 17 extant theatrical works comprise 14 comedies, one tragicomedy, one tragedy and one liturgical drama.
In spite of his run-in with the Inquisition, Giambattista della Porta remained a devout Catholic for the remainder of his life. In his last years he became a lay Jesuit brother.
He apparently never got over being overshadowed by Galileo, and till his dying day insisted that he was the actual inventor of the telescope. In fact, he was working on a treatise in defense of his claim (De telescopiis) when he died on February 4th, 1615. The cause of death is unknown. I like to think that last fact would greatly please the “Professor of secrets”.
Coming back to earth, I collect my thoughts and look around one last time down the myriad halls of the greatest natural history museum on earth. I’ve been in here numerous times (and I’ll keep coming back) but it suddenly occurs to me that, to the best of my knowledge, nowhere in this vast repository of the natural sciences is there a memorial to the man who undoubtedly started it all. Couldn’t they have at least put up a plaque in some corner acknowledging his contribution; some small recognition? Then I smiled.
“Recognition or not, Giambattista della Porta, if you were alive today and could see where your work has led I know you would be pleased!” With that, I headed for home.
Further reading:
• Louise Clubb, Giambattista Della Porta, Dramatist. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1965
• Giambattista della Porta: Natural Magick, Nuvision Publications, 2005
