Ulisse Aldrovandi

Born to a noble family in Bologna, Ulisse Aldrovandi (or sometimes Aldovandus in historic books) (1522-1605) is the founder of modern Natural History. During his university studies in 1549 he got in trouble with the Church for doubting the doctrine of the Trinity. He was taken to Rome and placed under house arrest in order to wed out any heretical thoughts.

His time in Rome changed his life, but perhaps not as the Church intended. Before he was released in 1550 he met many fellow scholars, who introduced him to the delights of the natural world. Back in Bologna he became the professor of philosophy (1554) before becoming the university's first professor of natural sciences (1561). He invented the word 'geology', and established botany, zoology and entomology as distinct scientific disciplines, and he made Bologna an important centre for their study.

In his own time Aldovrandi was compared to Aristotle; known throughout Europe, he was called the 'second Pliny'. His remarkable collection of specimens, sent to him by contacts from all over the world and numbering over 18,000, was the first and perhaps largest of all the 'cabinets of curiosities' that became popular in the 17th century.