Giorgio Bidone

Giovanni Giorgio Bidone (19 January 1781, Casalnoceto, Piedmont – 25 August 1839, Turin, Kingdom of Sardinia) was an Italian engineer, mathematician and an experimenter in the field of hydraulics.[1]

Bidone's cenotaph

Portrait of Giorgio Bidone

Giorgio Bidone's parents were Alessandro Antonio Bidone and Margherita Malaspina. In 1782, when Giorgio was one year old, the family moved to Voghera where he was educated.

He then entered the Filipino College in Turin. His plans to become a priest were abandoned because of new laws introduced by the French after Piedmont was annexed by Napoleon Bonaparte. He studied at Collegio delle Province as well as the University of Turin. He graduated in mathematics and hydraulic engineering at Turin at the age of 23 and two years later he graduated in civil engineering. He became a member of the Academy of Sciences of Turin in 1811 and was appointed professor of hydraulics in 1815. His research was in mathematics on the solution of transcendental equations and also on definite integrals.

He performed experiments in the field of hydraulics at a laboratory at Parella, which had been established in 1763 by Francesco Domenico Michelotti. His research focused on analysis and hydraulics. In 1820 he published a paper called Experiences sur le remou et sur la propagation des ondes, where he announced the hydrodynamic phenomenon known as the "hydraulic jump". This is how kinetic energy is dissipated when a fast flowing current reaches a slower current. This effect can be seen in both water and air.[2]

In his hydraulic research he combined experiments with mathematical models. In his study of overflow he measured the upstream increase in height and the shape caused by an obstruction and then derived the equations for describing this effect.

In 1817, together with Ignazio Michelotti, who was supervisor of rivers and chief inspector of canals, he drafted the new laws concerning the waterways of the kingdom. This earned him the Civil Order of Merit of Savoy in 1839.

Between 1822 and 1823, he participated in an international collaboration to survey across the Alps to link his region with the rest of Western Europe and Eastern Europe.

Bidone also taught mathematics at the University of Turin and he was appointed professor of geometry. He became a member of the National Academy of Sciences of Italy.