Speaker
Description
In 1669, after many negotiations to keep his position at the Studium in Bologna, Giovanni Domenico Cassini left for Paris. The Italian astronomer and professor was called to France by Jean-Baptiste Colbert to evaluate a very important building under construction: the Observatoire royal, a royal palace, the highest expression of scientific observation and the only building for science built by Louis XIV. This was to serve symbolically and materially for the programs of the newly founded Académie royale des sciences.
At that time, the building had been completed as far as the first floor. Cassini gave various recommendations to adapt it to his idea of astronomical practice.
But what was a building for observation like at the time? How could celestial observation be reconciled with the practice of other sciences? What did an astronomer do at the time, and above all, what sources explain this to us today?
In my presentation, we will look at a series of key points on Giovanni Domenico Cassini's idea of astronomical practice, in particular how he thought a building for observing the sky should be designed. It will be an opportunity to take stock of the historiography on Cassini I and the Observatoire royal.
