Leonardo Ximenes


Leonardo Ximenes was a famous Italian Jesuit mathematician, engineer, astronomer and geographer from Sicily.
After having attended a Jesuit school, he became a mathematician, a hydraulic and civil engineer, and was an eminently respected astronomer in his day. The astronomical observatory, Osservatorio Ximeniano in Florence, is named after him in recognition of his services to the field. As a hydraulic engineer, he is known for building canals, including the Imperial Canal in Tuscany. These canals were part of an effort to drain the Lago di Bientina, at the time the largest lake in Tuscany.

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