1522-1605

Italian naturalist who advanced work in the natural sciences through emphasis on direct study and observation of the world. Appointed professor at the University of Bologna (1560), Aldrovani established Bologna's botanical garden, created collections of minerals and fossils, and aroused interest in the systematic study of nature through his lively lectures. His collections provided the material for a 14-volume encyclopedia of living things, which remained authoritative until superseded by Georges Buffon's Histoire Naturelle in the eighteenth century.