Prince Baldassarre Boncompagni-Ludovisi was an Italian historian of mathematics. He is best known for his 1857 republication of Leonardo Fibonacci's Liber Abaci, on whom he wrote extensively.
Background
Ethnicity:
Boncompagni was born into an ancient noble and wealthy Roman family, the Ludovisi-Boncompagni.
Baldassarre Boncompagni-Ludovisi was born on March 10, 1821, in Rome, into an ancient noble and wealthy Roman family, the Ludovisi-Boncompagni, as the third son of Prince Luigi Boncompagni Ludovisi and Princess Maria Maddalena Odescalchi.
Education
Baldassarre Boncompagni studied under the mathematician Barnabas Dotterel and astronomer Ignazio Calandrelli, developing an interest in the history of science.
Career
In 1843 Crelle’s Journal published the results of mathematical analyses obtained by Boncompagni, who afterward concentrated mainly on the history of mathematics and physics. His works in this field include one on the development of the study of physics in Italy during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, as well as publications concerning Guido Bonatti, Plato of Tivoli, Gerard of Cremona, and Gerard of Sabbionetta.
From these studies, Boncompagni was led to examine the works of Leonardo Fibonacci, about whom little was known at that time. By means of numerous accurate works, he made known Fibonacci’s importance in the history of mathematics, illustrating his life and works in the accurate edition of the Scritti di Leonardo Pisano (1857-1862).
In order to meet the requirements of his scientific publications, Boncompagni established his own printing plant, called “delle Scienze Matematiche e Fisiche.” For forty years he assumed full financial responsibility for the entire cost of its operation, freely granting to other scientists the privilege of using its facilities. The plant published important documents on the history of science, such as the papers on challenging mathematics between Ferrari and Tartaglia and the unpublished letters of Lagrange and Gauss. In order to have a specialized journal for his favorite studies, in 1868 Boncompagni undertook the publication of Bullettino di bibliografia e di storia delle scienze matematiche e fisiche known as Bullettino Boncompagni, it ceased publication in 1887.
Boncompagni was among the first thirty members of the Pontifical Academy of the New Lincei, which was founded in 1847 by Pope Pius IX, who desired to reactivate the academy founded by Federico Cesi, of which Galileo had also been a member. He published the transactions of the Academy, from volume XXIV to volume XLVII, at his own expense. He was faithful to it even after the Italian government established the Lincei Academy.
Boncompagni came to the assistance of needy scholars and students, assigning them to well-paying tasks in transcription and in translation, thus leaving behind him the memory of enlightened and generous patronage.
Membership
Boncompagni was among the first thirty members of the Pontifical Academy of the New Lincei, which was founded in 1847 by Pope Pius IX.