His literary work also included biographies of his famous scientists such as Lazzaro Spallanzani (1729-1799) and Luigi Galvani (1737-1798).
Here, his famous kinswoman, Laura Bassi, was professor of physics and it is to her influence that his scientific impulse has been usually attributed.
In 1784 he published a translation of Lazzaro Spallanzani's Dissertations on Natural History, and in 1785 produced a translation, with original notes, of Torbern Olof Bergman's Essays on Elective Attractions.
He was uncle to Charles Bonnet, with whom he corresponded regularly, as well as to René-Antoine Ferchault de Réaumur (1683-1757) and Lazzaro Spallanzani (1729-1799).
In 1785 he founded the Atesine Academy of Fine Arts: during his reign arts and culture flourished, and among his protegées were Lazzaro Spallanzani, Giambattista Venturi, Girolamo Tiraboschi, Lodovico Ricci and others.