Giovanni Aldini

Giovanni Aldini (April 10, 1762 – January 17, 1834), Italian physicist born at Bologna, was a brother of the statesman Count Antonio Aldini (1756–1826) and nephew of Luigi Galvani, whose treaties on muscular electricity he edited with notes in 1791.

He became professor of physics at Bologna in 1798, in succession to his teacher Sebastiano Canterzani (1734–1819). His scientific work was chiefly concerned with galvanism, anatomy and its medical applications, with the construction and illumination of lighthouses, and with experiments for preserving human life and material objects from destruction by fire. He wrote in French and English in addition to his native Italian. In recognition of his merits, the emperor of Austria made him a knight of the Iron Crown and a councillor of state at Milan, where he died. He bequeathed a considerable sum to found a school of natural science for artisans at Bologna.

Experiments

Aldini's most famous public demonstration of the electro-stimulation technique of deceased limbs was performed on the executed criminal George Forster at Newgate in London in 1803. The Newgate Calendar describes what happened when the galvanic process was used on the body: