Gabrio Piola
Gabrio Piola (15 July 1794 – 9 November 1850) was an Italian mathematician and physicist, member of the Lombardo Institute of Science, Letters and Arts. He studied in particular the mechanics of the continuous, linking his name to the tensors called Piola–Kirchhoff. Biography Count Gabrio Piola Daverio was born in Milan in a rich and aristocratic family. Initially he studied at home and then at the local high school. Given his exceptional ability in mathematics and physics, he started to study mathematics at the University of Pavia, as a student of Vincenzo Brunacci, obtaining his doctorate on 24 June 1816. He didn’t follow an academic career even though he was offered the chair of Applied Mathematics in Rome; he preferred dedicating himself to private teaching. One of his students was Francesco Brioschi who became Professor of rational mechanics at Pavia and President of the Academy of High Schools. His research activity started in 1824, winning a competition and related prize at the Lombard Institute of Milan, with a long article on the mechanics of Lagrange. His mathematical research contributed to the calculation of the finite differences and to integral calculus, whilst in mechanics he dedicated himself to continuous mechanics and