Leopoldo, a disciple of Galileo, took a real interest in the proceedings of the justly celebrated academy 'Del Cimento' (the test), signing its correspondence, following closely the work of Evangelista Torricelli da Modigliana, inventor of the barometer. He experimented with telescopic lenses and all manner of scientific instruments, and also commissioned those thermometers, astrolobes, calorimeters, quadrants, hygrometers, quadrants and other ingenious mechanical devices which visitors to the Pitti Palace saw displayed in such 
profusion. Leopoldo spent four hours each day 'up to his neck in books'. He read everything that came to hand and always kept a book in his pocket to read whenever he had a spare moment. On the dissolution of the scientific adademy, Del Cimento, he left for Rome and became a cardinal.
 

"The Rise and Fall of The House of Medici", by Christopher Hibbert