Giuseppe Averani

In 1694-95 Cosmus III, Grand Duke of Tuscany, made it possible for Giuseppe Averani and Cipriano Antonio Targioni of Florence to heat a diamond with a large burning glass. The gem was destroyed (255). Various modifications of this experiment were tried in Vienna and Paris (256). 

But surely, one of the most auspicious events in Florentine scientific history was the buming-lens experiment by Giuseppe Averani and Cipriano Targioni that revealed the true nature of diamond. It also set the stage for Lavoisier s more famous demonstration a century later that demolished the phlogiston theory and replaced it with his theory of combustion. 

Giuseppe Averani (1662-1738) and His Experiment with Cipriano Targioni (1672-1748)... 

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