aro Spallanzani conducted important research in bodily functions, animal reproduction, and cellular theory and the physician, pathologist, scientist, and Nobel laureate Camillo Golgi, whose many achievements include the discovery of the Golgi complex, and his role in paving the way to the acceptance of the Neuron doctrine. Notable inventors include Guglielmo Marconi, who received the Nobel Prize in Physics for the invention of radio and Alessandro Volta, who invented the electric battery. Sport

ronomer who played a major role in the Scientific Revolution. His achievements include improvements to the telescope and consequent astronomical observations, and support for Copernicanism. The astronomer Giovanni Domenico Cassini, who made many important discoveries about the Solar System. The physicist Enrico Fermi, a Nobel prize laureate, was the leader of the team that built the first nuclear reactor and is also noted for his many other contributions to physics, including the co-development of the quantum theory. Francesco Zantedeschi discovered electromagnetic induction, the basis for electric power generation, in 1829 with experiments that anticipated the more famous experiments of Michael Faraday.[228] Notable mathematicians include Lagrange, Fibonacci, and Cardano, whose Ars Magna is generally recognized as the first modern treatment on mathematics, made fundamental advances to the field. In the Biological sciences, Marcello Malpighi founded microscopic anatomy, Lazzaro Spallanzani conducted important research in bodily functions, animal reproduction, and cellular theory and the physician, pathologist, scientist, and Nobel laureate Camillo Golgi, whose many achievements include the discovery of the Golgi complex, and his role in paving the way to the acceptance of the Neuron doctrine. Notable inventors include Guglielmo Marconi, who received the Nobel Prize in Physics for the invention of radio and Alessandro Volta, who invented the electric battery.
Sport
Main article: Sport in Italy


The Italian team during the 1982 FIFA World Cup.
The most popular sport in Italy is, by far, football.[229] Italy's Squadra Azzurra has won four FIFA World Cups (1934, 1938, 1982, and 2006), currently ranking as the world's second most successful national football team, just after Brazil.[230] Italy's club sides have won 27 major European trophies, making them the most successful nation in European football.
Other popular team sports in Italy include volleyball, basketball and rugby. The male and female national teams are often in top 4 ranking of teams in the world, regarded as the best volleyball league in the world. The Italian national basketball team's best results were gold at Eurobasket 1983 and EuroBasket 1999, as well as silver at the Olympics in 2004. The Italian League is widely considered one of the most competitive in Europe. Rugby union enjoys a good level of popularity, especially in the north of the country. Italy's national team competes in the Six Nations Championship, and is a regular at the Rugby World Cup. Italy ranks as a tier-one nation by the International Rugby Board.


Felipe Massa at the 2008 Italian GP.
Italy has a long and successful tradition in individual sports as well. Bicycle racing is a very familiar sport in the country.[231] Italians have won the UCI World Championships more than any other country, except Belgium. The Giro d'Italia is a world famous long distance cycling race held every May, and constitutes one of the three Grand Tours, along with the Tour de France and the Vuelta a España, each of which last approximately three weeks. Alpine skiing is also a very widespread sport in Italy, and the country is a popular international skiing destination, known for its ski resorts.[232] Italian skiers achieved good results in Winter Olympic Games, Alpine Ski World Cup, and World Championship. Tennis has a significant following in Italy, ranking as t