Conveners
Musei, Archivi e collezioni scientifiche / Museums, Archives, and scientific collections
- Chairperson: Roberto Mantovani
Musei, Archivi e collezioni scientifiche / Museums, Archives, and scientific collections
- Chairperson: Fanny Marcon
While historians of science are mainly interested in the history of research, many if not most of the objects in physical cabinets and other historical scientific instrument collections emerged from a teaching context. I argue that we need to relocate education from the periphery of the history of science and technology to its centre. I claim that it is essential to study science education in...
It was 1873 when the Roman celebrations of the 4th centenary of the birth of Copernicus were organized at La Sapienza University. Domenico Berti, professor of Philosophy, proposed to Minister of Education Antonio Scialoja the foundation of a museum dedicated to the astronomer.
It was to be hosted by the Observatory of Collegio Romano and directed by the Polish historian Artur Wołyński, an...
Many of the architectures of the first and second half of the 20th century are characterized by technological innovations that modify the architectural lexicon, the appearance and functioning of the buildings and require a new organization of the design activity and the construction process. The evolution of observation instruments and the need to find places uncontaminated by urban light...
Created during the French Revolution to “regain control of the seas from the British”, the Bureau des Longitudes still exists nowadays. Initially composed of ten members (2 surveyors, 4 astronomers, 2 ex-navigators, 1 geographer and 1 'artist'), it functioned as a small “academy of astronomical sciences” (covering fields such as celestial mechanics, cosmology, metrology, physical and earth...
Within Padua's historic center, there are several prestigious and lesser-known clocks and sundials, some easily visible, while others remain hidden from the inattentive observer. This study aims to identify a route through Padua's historic center, where one can pause and observe the timekeeping instruments. It examines sundials, meridians, and clocks found on the city walls, carefully studying...
3D printing and graphics play a crucial role in the conservation and dissemination of historical and museum assets in the astronomical field. Indeed, these technologies make it possible to make usable instruments and places of historical interest that would otherwise be inaccessible. Examples of the potential of these technologies are the three-dimensional reconstruction of the Paduan...
The first astronomical images, preserved at Inaf-Oar archive, are three daguerreotypes taken by Angelo Secchi in 1851 to the Colleggio Romano Observatory, on the occasion of the total solar eclipse. During the same eclipse, at the Royal Observatory of Koenigsberg in Prussia, Julius Berkowski obtained the first daguerreotype of the totality.
Afterward, in 1857, Angelo Secchi undertook to...
