Benedetto Castelli

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Benedetto Castelli, born Antonio Castelli (1578 – April 9, 1643) was an Italian mathematician. He took the name "Benedetto" upon entering the Benedictine Order in 1595.

Born in Brescia, he studied at the University of Padua and later became an abbot at the Benedictine monastery in Monte Cassino.

He was a long-time friend and supporter of his teacher, Galileo Galilei. He assisted Galileo's study of sunspots and participated in the examination of the theories of Nicolaus Copernicus.

Castelli was interested in mathematics and hydraulics. He was appointed as a mathematician to the University of Pisa, replacing Galileo, and later at the University of Rome La Sapienza. He published Mensuration of Running Water, an important work on fluids in motion.

Castelli died in Rome. One of his students was Evangelista Torricelli, the inventor of the barometer and an early proponent of the air pump. He recommended Gasparo Berti for a chair of mathematics at Sapienza. Berti was too be his successor at the university, but he died before he could take the post.