Speaker
Description
In Southern Italy, the naturalist Giuseppe Maria Giovene (1753-1837) was one of the first to make regular observations of meteorological phenomena. From 1788 to 1797, he published annual reports of his observations, which also included his opinions on the outcomes of meteorological conditions on agriculture and human health. He was considered in his time the founder of meteorology applied to agriculture. Giovene observed meteorological phenomena for about forty years. He also established a network of scientists who collected meteorological data in some cities of the Kingdom of Naples. Many notebooks of observations, many scientific letters and other manuscripts are in a fund, which historians have not yet explored. This documentation needs to be appreciated, because it represents very important material for reconstructing the history of the first meteorological observations in Southern Italy. Furthermore, it would allow us to make an evaluation of climate changes based on the comparison of historical data with current data.
