Ostilio Ricci

Ostilio Ricci
Ostilio Ricci (1540–1603)
Born	1540 Fermo
Died	1603 (aged 62–63) Florence
Residence	Italy
Nationality	Italian
Fields	Mathematician
Institutions	Accademia delle Arti del Disegno
Alma mater	Università di Brescia
Academic advisors	Niccolò Tartaglia
Notable students	Galileo Galilei Lodovico Cardi

Ostilio Ricci (1540–1603) was an Italian mathematician.

He was a university professor in Florence at the Accademia delle Arti del Disegno, founded in 1560 by Giorgio Vasari. Ricci is also known for being Galileo Galilei's teacher.

Ricci was Court Mathematician to the Grand Duke Francesco in Florence, in 1580, when Galileo attended his lectures in Pisa.

Galileo was enrolled at the University of Pisa, by his father Vincenzo, in order to study medicine. Instead, Galilei became more interested in mathematics, after meeting Ostilio Ricci, a former student of Niccolò Tartaglia. Ricci taught Galileo the mathematics of Euclid and Archimedes, who both deeply influenced Galileo's later work. Ricci considered mathematics not to be a distinct science, but a practical tool for problems in mechanics and engineering. Ostilio Ricci is systematically cited in the various biographies of Galileo Galilei.