He got his Ph.D. degree in medicine and science, he also studied geology in Paris and was Professor at the University of Madrid. He published some of his works as: Manual de geología; Tratado de geología agricola; Teoría y práctica de pozos artesianos; Origen, naturaleza y antigüedad del hombre; Descripcions de viatges europeus.

He made the geological description of some Spanish regions like Castellón (1859) and Valencia (1893). His brother, Josep Vilanova i Piera (Valencia 1863- Picassent, Horta 1884), was a mine engineer and was the engineer boss in Málaga, Teruel, Almería and Valencia (1875-1885), he was also a member of several scientific institutions.

Image gallery