Antonio Stoppani

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Antonio Stoppani (August 24, 1824 – January 1, 1891) was an Italian geologist and palaeontologist.

Born in Lecco, he became professor of geology in the Royal Technical Institute of Milan, and was distinguished for his researches on the Triassic and Liassic formations of northern Italy.

Among his works were:

• Paleontologie Lombarde (1858-1881)
• Les petrifaction d'Esino (1858-1860)
• Géologie et paleontologie des conches a Avicula Contorta en Lombardie (1860-1865)
• Corso di geologia (3 vols, 1871-1873)
• L'Era Neozoica (1881)

In this last work the author discussed the glaciation of the Italian Alps and the history of Italy during the Pleistocene age.

Stoppani was very important as a popularizer of science. His most popular work, Il Bel Paese (1876), presents - by means of 32 didactical/scientific conversations in front of a fireplace - ideas and concepts of the natural sciences, with a language that was accessible to the average 19th-century reader, and particularly deals with geology and the beauties of the Italian landscape.

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• This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.