XLVI National Congress of the Italian Society for the History of Physics and Astronomy

Geodesy and Earth sciences over a long 19th century

15 Sept 2026, 16:15

25m

The History of Physics and Astronomy History of Astronomy and Physics

Speaker

Schiavon, Martina (Observatoire de Paris-PSL (LTE))

Description

Before the First World War, geodesy was not the same mathematical and technical discipline we understand it to be today. It was instead conceived as a collection of knowledge and practical skills (acquired during exploration travels), which historians generally refer to as the ‘‘observatory sciences’’. Drawing on the meeting accounts of the Italian geodetic commission, the aim of this talk is to focus on specific examples to explain, in particular, the connections between geodesy and what we now call the Earth sciences (seismology, geological hypotheses, meteorology, latitude and longitude data, etc.), spanning a long 19th century.