ABSTRACT
A student of Marcello Malpighi (1628-1694), Vallisneri advocated the experimental and mechanical philosophies in his writings and in his teaching at the University of Padua, where he occupied a chair of medicine from 1700 until his death. In publications and private letters, he also argued for the Galilean view of the autonomy of science, showing familiarity with those works by Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) officially banned in Italy.
