Studied at the Artillery School in Turin. Began a military career and became general in 1794. In 1757, with Joseph-Louis Lagrange (1736-1813) and Gianfrancesco Cigna (1734-1790), founded the Società Privata Torinese. Having changed its name to Società Reale, the body was transformed - with the approval of King Vittorio Amedeo III - into the Accademia Reale delle Scienze on July 25, 1783. Was also one of the first Italians to study the chemistry of gases. Prepared complex chemical apparatuses for the study of carbon dioxide. His name was given to a type of bottle used in pneumatics experiments.