Introduction
Tiberius Cavallo (also Tiberio) (March 30 1749 – December 21 1809) was an Italian physicist and natural philosopher.
Life
He was born at Naples, where his father was a physician.
In 1771 he came to England with the intention of pursuing a mercantile career, but he soon turned his attention to scientific work. He made several ingenious improvements in scientific instruments. He became a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1779, and gave annual Bakerian Lectures from 1780 to 1792.
Cavallo was often cited in the literature of his time as inventor of Cavallo's multiplier, a device he used for the amplification of small electric charges, making them observable and measurable in an electroscope. He also worked on refrigeration, and his work influenced pioneer balloonist Jean-Pierre Blanchard. He published on musical temperament.
He died in London on 21 December 1809.
He is buried in Old St Pancras Churchyard. The grave is lost but he is listed on the Burdett Coutts memorial of 1879 to the many important persons buried therein.
Works
He published numerous works on different branches of physics, including:
- A Complete Treatise on Electricity (1777)
- Treatise on the Nature and Properties of Air and other permanently Elastic Fluids (1781)
- History and Practice of Aerostation (1785)
- Treatise on Magnetism (1787)
- Elements of Natural and Experimental Philosophy (1803)
- Theory and Practice of Medical Electricity (1780)
- Medical Properties of Factitious Air (1798).
For Rees's Cyclopædia he contributed articles on Electricity, Machinery and Mechanics, but the topics are not known.