Angelo Secchi, Jesuit Scientist

Today marks the death of Father Angelo Secchi (1818-1878), Jesuit scientist and inventor. Born in northern Italy, he joined the Jesuits at age sixteen. Ordained in 1847, he was soon assigned to direct the observatory at the Gregorian University, a position he held until his death. His contributions to science were numerous. He was active in oceanography, meterology and physics. He was the first to make systematic use of spectroscopy in stellar classification. He also invented what is known as the Secchi disk, which is used to measure water transparency in oceans and lakes. Father Secchi was elected to England’s Royal Society and Royal Astronomical Society, the French Académie des Sciences, and Russia’s Imperial Academy of St. Petersburg. In Italy he presided for many years over the Accademia dei Nuovi Lincei, and founded the Societa degli Spettroscopisti Italiani, devoted to spectroscopic studies of the Sun.