"Nuncius" Annals of the History of Science

Articoli

F. CASI, A Medieval Astrolabe in the Tradition of Jean Fusoris
The discovery of a medieval astrolabe attributed to the workshop of Jean Fusoris has offered the opportunity to re-examine the history of this instrument in Western countries and, consequently, the figure of the man who first organised its production in France, and finally look into the details of this ancient instrument. On the suggestion of Emmanuel Poulle, top authority on astrolabes, the latter's studies published in 1963 have been consequently updated, to arrive at a broader knowledge of the instruments made by Jean Fusoris.

S.A. BEDINI, Falconi, Renaissance Astrologer and Astronomical Clock and Instrument Maker
The occasional appearance in inventories of collections of early scientific instruments items bearing the inscription «Opus Falconi» aroused little interest in the past among curators and collectors because little or nothing was known of the maker. In due course a search for Falconi's identity confirmed that such a clockmaker and maker of astronomical instruments was a native of the Bergamasque Valley region in Lombardy, who had been active during the early decades of the sixteenth century.

J.R. BERTOMEU SÁNCHEZ, A. GARCÍA BELMAR, Atoms in French Chemistry Textbooks During the First Half of the Nineteenth Century: The Elémens de chimie médicale by Mateu Orfila (1787-1853)
The Élements de chimie médicale by Mateu Orfila i Rotger (1787-1853) is an excellent historical source for a reappraisal of the rise and fall of French atomic theory over the first half of nineteenth century. The book was edited eight times between 1817 and 1851. Several abridged versions were also published in English, Spanish, German, Italian and Dutch translations. We shall first analyse how atomic theory was received in French chemistry textbooks during the 1810s and 1820s. Atoms were regarded by French authors as a practical tool and not as a theoretical novelty. We shall follow atomic theory through the first editions of Orfila's and Thenard's textbooks. At the end of the 1820s, new methods for calculating atomic weights were introduced in textbooks as well as Berzelian formulae. We shall then study how and why atomic theory reached its apex in Thenard's and Orfila's textbooks between 1827 and 1835. Finally, we shall discuss why Orfila gave up atomic weight in his seventh edition (1843). We shall analyse Orfila's epistemological concerns, his views about the differences between atoms and equivalents, his interest for plant and animal chemistry and the institutional constraints (official syllabus) related to atomic theory. No single reason can be used to explain Orfila's rejection of atomic weights in the 1840s. He, indeed, chose a particular attitude among the many positions on atomic theory adopted by French chemistry textbook writers over these years.

S. CICENIA, La geometria lobacevskiana e la filosofia della matematica di Auguste Comte
In this paper we effect an historical reconstruction of the relationship between N.I. Lobacevskij's conception of the foundations of geometry and that of A. Comte. We can establish a meaningful convergence between Lobacevskian physical geometry, based on the solid bodies and the section operation, and the «mathématique concréte» of the positivistic philosopher, as we can note in some of Comtian writings of mathematics philosophy published posthumously, as well as in Cours de philosophie positive. By means of criticising the principles of science, in their common antimethaphysical conception of knowledge theory, Lobacevskij and Comte put the traditional core of science, which seemed to have no alternative and had had the paradigms of scientific knowledge in Euclidean geometry and in Newtonian mechanics, in a critical position. This happens by referring to Lagrange and Fourier.
Moreover, the 'Fourierist core' of Comtian work has a reference in Lobacevskij's physical geometry and some of Fourier's ideas, expressed in one of his geometrical manuscripts, lead to the basic concepts of the parallel straight lines theory of the Russian geometer, surprisingly.

P. OMODEO, Selezione, storia di una parola e di un concetto
From the world of breeders, Darwin drew the term selection, a neologism introduced by Youatt to indicate the choice of the stallion (according to the market demands). He promptly adopted it already in the Sketch and considered its potential significance when applied to the idea that species vary through the generations. Consequently, he suggested that in nature something similar many happen in relation to the «struggle for life» that originates from environmental variations (and somehow parallels the variations of market demands). Darwin attempted different ways to document how this process takes place in nature, always distinguishing as two phases the struggle of life and the consequent differential mortality and fecundity that characterize the breeders of the successive generation. This conclusion, which is at the very basis of Darwin's evolutionary theory, was presented in alternative solutions to make it acceptable to the most skeptical readers.
Alfred Wallace apparently solved the problem of the origin of species more directly, starting from Malthus and his conception that death chooses the weakest. He does not use the world “selection” until reading Darwin's works. However, his conception is that different rates of reproduction and death are the cause of evolutionary changes.

C. POGLIANO, Sciences at War and the Cybernetic Dream
This essay is a historical analysis of the background, context, and consequences of the article on teleological mechanism and circular causality published in 1943 by Rosenblueth, Wiener and Bigelow. The first part shows how the 'martial air' of the 20 ^th century - from World War I to the Cold War - shaped the development and the content of several studies related to behavior control. The 1943 article became so important in the history of science thanks to the role played by the Macy Foundation which, for seven years (1946-1953), sponsored a famous series of conferences.
Their ideal goals and real accomplishments, their rhetoric and style of working are discussed in the second part, where some instances are also given of the clashing views and conflicts that marked the long performance of the cybernetics group.

Per un archivio della corrispondenza degli scienziati italiani

F. CATTELANI DEGANI, M.U. LUGLI, Cinque lettere di Geminiano Montanari a Gian Domenico Cassini
We transcribe five letters of Geminiano Montanari to Gian Domenico Cassini, the first four written from Bologna (in 1669, 1670 and 1678), the fifth from Venice (1681). Here, several subjects are discussed, among which: objections raised by someone of Bologna against the S. Petronio sundial built by Cassini, the dissatisfaction of Montanari and his wish to go to Paris, the painting of a portrait of himself to be sent this town, the quarrel with Rossetti and Montanari's admission of the rotation of the earth around the sun.

F. BARBIERI, M. ZUCCOLI, Odoardo Corsini e la scienza delle acque: opuscoli
The piarist Odoardo Corsini (Fanano, 1702-1765) is better known as an historian, for his studies about both numismatics and chronology. Less known is his activity in the scientific field, which led him to exchange letters with many scientist of his time.
Corsini's activity in hydraulics is witnessed by booklets, not recorded in bibliographies, and by his correspondence. The article ends with the transcription of two letters by Antonio Vallisneri to Corsini, where the problem of the origin of springs is mentioned.

R. GATTO, L. IODICE, E.OLOSTRO CIRELLA, Sul ritrovamento di un carteggio scientifico di Emanuele Fergola
This is a short note to announce the discovery of about 150 letters which form part of Emanuele Fergola's correspondence. Formerly in the possession of a relative, Signor Francesco Luccio, they will be added to the already sizeable collection of correspondence conserved in the Historical Archive of the Capodimonte Astronomical observatory of which Fergola was director from 1889 until 1909. A complete inventory of the letters is provided.

Istituzioni e fonti

A, MANARA, F. CHLISTOVSKI, Giovanni Virginio Schiaparelli, Percival Lowell. Scambi epistolari inediti (1896-1910)
In this article we publish the correspondence between the famous italian astronomer Giovanni Schiaparelli (1835-1910) and Percival Lowell (1855-1916), founder of the Flagstaff Observatory in Arizona. Both studied in detail the planet Mars, therefore the correspondence focuses on this topic. In this work we present 35 unpublished letters (34 in French, one in English) written from 1896 until Schiaparelli's death (1910). The original letters from Lowell and some drafts by Schiaparelli are conserved in the archives of the Brera Astronomical Observatory; Flagstaff Observatory has kindly provided us with some of the original letters by Schiaparelli.

A. BARTOLA, Alle origini del museo del Collegio Romano. Documenti e testimonianze
At the origin of the Roman College Museum lies the scientific and experimental collection of the Jesuit Athanasius Kircher (1602-1680).
Through the testamentary legacy of Alfonso Donnino (1651), the Museum was enriched by a collection of antiquities, portraits, rare and precious objects.
Through Kircher's correspondence, the notarial documentation and Filippo Bonanni's Notizie circa la Galleria del Collegio Romano (1716), the paper presents the history and fortune of the famous museum from 1651 to the first half of the XVIII century.

S. CASATI, La biblioteca di Pietro Omodeo
The library of the Institute and Museum of the History of Science has recently acquired the library of Pietro Omodeo, an important collection composed of approximately three thousand works, largely devoted to the natural science. The collection enriches the library's book holding, traditionally oriented towards the disciplines of experimental physics.

Nova Media

S. CASATI, S. CONTARDI, La Raccolta e la Nuova raccolta d'opuscoli scientifici e filologici dell'erudito Angelo Calogerà, una grande impresa editoriale pubblicata in formato digitale.

Discussioni critiche

M. CIARDI, Scoperte geografiche, missionari, viaggiatori, geologi.

Recensioni

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