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PHYSICS, ASTRONOMY AND ENGINEERING. CRITICAL PROBLEMS IN THE HISTORY OF SCIENCE AND SOCIETY. Proceedings of the 32nd International Congress of the Italian Society of Historians of Physics and Astronomy Cover Image

PHYSICS, ASTRONOMY AND ENGINEERING. CRITICAL PROBLEMS IN THE HISTORY OF SCIENCE AND SOCIETY. Proceedings of the 32nd International Congress of the Italian Society of Historians of Physics and Astronomy
PHYSICS, ASTRONOMY AND ENGINEERING. CRITICAL PROBLEMS IN THE HISTORY OF SCIENCE AND SOCIETY. Proceedings of the 32nd International Congress of the Italian Society of Historians of Physics and Astronomy

Contributor(s): Raffaele Pisano (Editor), Danilo Capecchi (Editor), Anna Lukešová (Editor)
Subject(s): History, Philosophy, Social Sciences
Published by: Scientia Socialis, UAB
Keywords: critical problems; History of Science; science and society; astronomy and engineering
Summary/Abstract: Pisano R, Capecchi D, Lukešová A (eds) (2013). PHYSICS, ASTRONOMY AND ENGINEERING. CRITICAL PROBLEMS IN THE HISTORY OF SCIENCE AND SOCIETY. Proceedings of the 32nd International Congress of the Italian Society of Historians of Physics and Astronomy. The Scientia Socialis Press, Šiauliai. ISBN: 978-609-95513-0-2

  • Print-ISBN-13: 978-609-95513-0-2
  • Page Count: 500
  • Publication Year: 2013
  • Language: English
AN OUTLINE OF HISTORY OF MECHANISM DESIGN IN SERVICING SCIENCE

AN OUTLINE OF HISTORY OF MECHANISM DESIGN IN SERVICING SCIENCE
(AN OUTLINE OF HISTORY OF MECHANISM DESIGN IN SERVICING SCIENCE)

  • Author(s):Marco Ceccarelli
  • Language:English
  • Subject(s):History, Social Sciences
  • Page Range:1-10
  • No. of Pages:10
  • Keywords:mechanism design; service tasks; history of mechanism design
  • Summary/Abstract:In the paper an outline of historic evolution of service aspects of Mechanism Design (hereafter MD) for Science developments is presented with general considerations but emblematic examples as viewed from practical technical viewpoints. In general MD has evolved from a merely practical service to Science activity to a Science activity with return achievements and today it is even itself an instrumental means and motivation for further Science developments.
THE ROLE PLAYED BY MATHEMATICS DURING THE REVOLUTIONARY AND IMPERIAL PARIS UP TO THE RESTORATION IN THE EDUCATION OF ENGINEERS WITH LAZARE CARNOT AS A WITNESS

THE ROLE PLAYED BY MATHEMATICS DURING THE REVOLUTIONARY AND IMPERIAL PARIS UP TO THE RESTORATION IN THE EDUCATION OF ENGINEERS WITH LAZARE CARNOT AS A WITNESS
(THE ROLE PLAYED BY MATHEMATICS DURING THE REVOLUTIONARY AND IMPERIAL PARIS UP TO THE RESTORATION IN THE EDUCATION OF ENGINEERS WITH LAZARE CARNOT AS A WITNESS)

  • Author(s):Jean G. Dhombres
  • Language:English
  • Subject(s):History, Social Sciences
  • Page Range:11-24
  • No. of Pages:14
  • Keywords:Algebraic analysis; Lazare Carnot; Descriptive geometry; Ecole Polytechnique; Fundamental theorem of algebra; Laplace; Math curriculum for engineers;
  • Summary/Abstract:I am certainly sorry for too long a title. But as I wished without eliminating discrepancies to link debates that occurred during the revolutionary era concerning math teaching for engineers to changes in the mood of a society, I was sure to need some kind of literary fiction. I thus use a person, Lazare Carnot, as a witness to issues, which are so often neglected as being too technical to have an incidence on the social life. To counterbalance this somewhat subjective presentation, I present some original documents as their interpretation avoid long commentaries.
SOME METHODOLOGICAL REMARKS ON THE REPLICATION METHOD

SOME METHODOLOGICAL REMARKS ON THE REPLICATION METHOD
(SOME METHODOLOGICAL REMARKS ON THE REPLICATION METHOD)

  • Author(s):Peter Heering
  • Language:English
  • Subject(s):History, Social Sciences, Education, 18th Century
  • Page Range:25-38
  • No. of Pages:14
  • Keywords:Replication method; Historical experimental practices; Solar microscope; Marat; 18th century experimental practices;
  • Summary/Abstract:In the last decades, historians of science have developed a substantial interest in experiments and their role in creating scientific knowledge. Among the relevant aspects that came into the focus of the analysis were skills andperformative aspects involved in scientific experimentation. This led to some methodological problems, as the respective traces are difficult to find in classical sources. One methodological approach that addresses these aspects is the replication method, which is not limited to redoing historical experiments, but also includes the reconstruction of the historical apparatus as well as the contextualisation of the experiences made during this process.
THE EARTH FLOATS UNSUPPORTED IN SPACE

THE EARTH FLOATS UNSUPPORTED IN SPACE
(THE EARTH FLOATS UNSUPPORTED IN SPACE)

  • Author(s):Radim Kočandrle
  • Language:English
  • Subject(s):Social Sciences, History of ideas, Ancient World
  • Page Range:39-52
  • No. of Pages:14
  • Keywords:Anaximander; Aristotle; Cosmology; Equilibrium; Earth;
  • Summary/Abstract:According to Aristotle, Anaximander of Miletus explained the motionless position of the Earth in the universe by appealing to the principle of equilibrium. This study shows that such a conception would have represented a radical departure from the Ionian tradition, which tended to stress the role of air in supporting the Earth. Moreover, given the cosmological role of air, it is possible that this element played the same role also in Anaximander’s thought. Aristotle’s argument is in fact most likely based on Anaximander’s notion of concentric circles of heavenly bodies around the Earth.
PHYSICS AND MATHEMATICS WITHOUT COORDINATES

PHYSICS AND MATHEMATICS WITHOUT COORDINATES
(PHYSICS AND MATHEMATICS WITHOUT COORDINATES)

  • Author(s):Walter Noll
  • Language:English
  • Subject(s):History, Philosophy
  • Page Range:53-62
  • No. of Pages:10
  • Keywords:Coordinates; lineons; Special relativity; General relativity; Continuum mechanics
  • Summary/Abstract:From Descartes until now, coordinates have played a useful and crucial role in combining the geometry as developed by the Greeks with the Analysis that began to be developed at the time. However, it is now obsolete to use coordinates when dealing with conceptual issues and more efficient to use more sophisticated mathematical tools. In the paper there is shown how to afford a mathematical physical problems without the use of coordinates.
THE SEARCH FOR THE STANDARD MODEL HIGGS BOSON AT THE LARGE HADRON COLLIDER

THE SEARCH FOR THE STANDARD MODEL HIGGS BOSON AT THE LARGE HADRON COLLIDER
(THE SEARCH FOR THE STANDARD MODEL HIGGS BOSON AT THE LARGE HADRON COLLIDER)

  • Author(s):Aleandro Nisati
  • Language:English
  • Subject(s):History
  • Page Range:63-76
  • No. of Pages:14
  • Keywords:Higgs boson; Electroweak symmetry breaking; LHC; ATLAS; CMS; CERN;
  • Summary/Abstract:In the Standard Model of particle and fields, the non–zero Vacium expectation value of the Higgs field breaks the electroweak gauge symmetry, giving mass to the gauge bosons and elementary fermions. Its quantum is a spin–0particle, the Higgs boson: this scalar is the only missing elementary particle of this theoretical model. A brief overview of the searches for this particle performed in the last decades is given. In particular, the latest results of the search at the Large Hadron Collider are summarized and discussed, focusing on the recent observation by the experiments ATLAS and CMS of a new boson with mass around 125 GeV. Preliminary results based on available data show that this particle is consistent with the boson predicted by the Standard Model.
THE QIQI TUSHUO BY THE JESUIT JOHANN SCHRECK: EUROPEANS THEATRA MACHINARUM IN CHINA IN THE 16TH CENTURY

THE QIQI TUSHUO BY THE JESUIT JOHANN SCHRECK: EUROPEANS THEATRA MACHINARUM IN CHINA IN THE 16TH CENTURY
(THE QIQI TUSHUO BY THE JESUIT JOHANN SCHRECK: EUROPEANS THEATRA MACHINARUM IN CHINA IN THE 16TH CENTURY)

  • Author(s):Michela Cigola
  • Language:English
  • Subject(s):History, Philosophy, 16th Century
  • Page Range:77-86
  • No. of Pages:10
  • Keywords:Theatra Machinarum; Chinese History of Science; Mechanical Engineering History; Jesuits History;
  • Summary/Abstract:This article aims to investigate the role played by various missionaries of the Society of Jesus in the development and spread of European scientific and mechanical knowledge in China in the XVIth century and specially by Johann Schreck (1576–1630); Chinese name Deng Yuhan). Schreck was a jesuit with a wide range of interests and vast scientific and literary culture. He studied in Germany, France and Italy, where he became a disciple of Galileo Galilei (1564–1642).
WILLEM JACOB ‘S GRAVESANDE’S METHODOLOGICAL VIEWS

WILLEM JACOB ‘S GRAVESANDE’S METHODOLOGICAL VIEWS
(WILLEM JACOB ‘S GRAVESANDE’S METHODOLOGICAL VIEWS)

  • Author(s):Steffen Ducheyne
  • Language:English
  • Subject(s):History of ideas, Methodology and research technology, 17th Century, 18th Century
  • Page Range:87-94
  • No. of Pages:8
  • Keywords:Scientific methodology; Gravesande; Newton;
  • Summary/Abstract:That ‘s Gravesande (1688–1742) did not follow Newton’s doctrines ad literam has been frequently observed in the literature. Yet, despite such mitigation of ‘s Gravesande’s Newtonianism, it has frequently been maintained that he was an advocate of Newton’s methodology. Here I shall argue that, although ‘s Gravesande took over key terms of Newton’s methodological canon, upon close scrutiny, his methodological views were quite different from and occasionally even incongruent with Newton’s views on the matter.
THE HELIUM ATOM AND THE MAJORANA SOLUTIONS TO THE TWO–ELECTRON PROBLEM

THE HELIUM ATOM AND THE MAJORANA SOLUTIONS TO THE TWO–ELECTRON PROBLEM
(THE HELIUM ATOM AND THE MAJORANA SOLUTIONS TO THE TWO–ELECTRON PROBLEM)

  • Author(s):Salvatore Esposito, Adele Naddeo
  • Language:English
  • Subject(s):History of ideas, Modern Age, 19th Century, Interwar Period (1920 - 1939)
  • Page Range:95-102
  • No. of Pages:8
  • Keywords:Majorana; Helium atom; Variational Method; One–and Two–Electron Atoms;
  • Summary/Abstract:In 1920s the failure of the old quantum theory by Niels Bohr (1885–1962) and Arnold Sommerfeld (1868–1851) to describe successfully two–electron atoms triggered (at least in part) the development of quantum mechanics. Indeed, once the basic formalism had been established by Werner Heisenberg (1902-1976) and Erwin Schrodinger (1887–1961), early variational calculations produced remarkably good results for the ground state of the helium atom, thus opening the way to a wide acceptance of quantum mechanics. In this paper we present several, related, unpublished results obtained almost simultaneously by Ettore Majorana (1906–1938?), which were derived by resorting to novel methods not yet appeared in the literature.
THE STRUCTURES OF SPACETIME GEOMETRY

THE STRUCTURES OF SPACETIME GEOMETRY
(THE STRUCTURES OF SPACETIME GEOMETRY)

  • Author(s):Mauro Francaviglia, Lorenzo Fatibene
  • Language:English
  • Subject(s):History, Social Sciences, History of ideas
  • Page Range:103-112
  • No. of Pages:10
  • Keywords:Geometry of spacetime; Extended theories of gravitation;
  • Summary/Abstract:We shall here review some of the insights about the structures of geometry of spacetime implied by gravitational physics. In the early 70s Jürgen Ehlers (1929–2008), Felix A. E. Pirani and Alfred Schild (1921–1977) proposed an interpretational framework for relativistic theories, which suggests to revise thestructure of gravitational theories. We shall review a proposal for classifying extended theories of gravitation and consider some examples and applications.
HISTORICAL APPROACH TO PHYSICS ACCORDING TO KANT, EINSTEIN, AND HEGEL

HISTORICAL APPROACH TO PHYSICS ACCORDING TO KANT, EINSTEIN, AND HEGEL
(HISTORICAL APPROACH TO PHYSICS ACCORDING TO KANT, EINSTEIN, AND HEGEL)

  • Author(s):Young Suh Kim
  • Language:English
  • Subject(s):Philosophy, History of ideas, German Idealism, Philosophy of Science
  • Page Range:113-122
  • No. of Pages:10
  • Keywords:Dirac; Einstein; Hadons; Hegel; History of Physics; Kant; Lorentz covariance; Quantum mechanins; Relativity; Taoism;
  • Summary/Abstract:It is known that Einstein's conceptual base for his theory of relativity was the philosophy formulated by Immanuel Kant. Things appear differently to observers in different frames. However, Kant's Ding–an–Sich leads to the existence of the absolute reference frame which is not acceptable in Einstein's theory. It is possible to avoid this conflict using the ancient Chinese philosophy of Taoism where two different views can co–exist in harmony. This is not enough to explain Einstein's discovery of the mass–energy relation. The energy–momentum relations for slow and ultra–fast particles take different forms. Einstein was able tosynthesize these two formulas to create his energy–mass relation. Indeed, this is what Hegelianism is about in physics. Isaac Newton synthesized open orbits for comets and closed orbits for planets to create his second law of motion. Maxwell combined electricity and magnetism to create his four equations to the present–day wireless world. In order to synthesize wave and particle views of matter, Heisenberg formulated his uncertainty principle. Relativity and Quantum mechanics are the two greatest theories formulated in the 20th Century. Efforts to synthesize these two theories are discussed in detail.
THE CONCEPT OF WORK IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF APPLIED MECHANICS: CARNOT AND CORIOLIS

THE CONCEPT OF WORK IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF APPLIED MECHANICS: CARNOT AND CORIOLIS
(THE CONCEPT OF WORK IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF APPLIED MECHANICS: CARNOT AND CORIOLIS)

  • Author(s):Agamenon Rodrigues Eufrásio Oliveira
  • Language:English
  • Subject(s):History, History of ideas, 18th Century, 19th Century
  • Page Range:123-130
  • No. of Pages:8
  • Keywords:History of work; History of applied mechanics; Carnot; Coriolis;
  • Summary/Abstract:In this paper, we are mainly concerned with the contributions of French engineers, mainly Lazare Carnot (1753–1823) general theory of machines, and Gaspard–Gustave de Coriolis (1792–1843) who wrote the first textbook on applied mechanics: Du calcul de l’effet des machines (1829). These two books have in common the use of the concept of work as a fundamental step to build a general theory of applied mechanics within the framework of Rational Mechanics. Carnot started to develop his theory of machines applying d’Alembert (1717–1783) principle. Coriolis, in his book, develops Lazare Carnot’s project and uses extensively the concept of work associated to the new mathematical formalism.
EARLY MODERN HISTORIES OF ASTRONOMY: THE VIEWS ON THE PROGRESS OF ASTRONOMY

EARLY MODERN HISTORIES OF ASTRONOMY: THE VIEWS ON THE PROGRESS OF ASTRONOMY
(EARLY MODERN HISTORIES OF ASTRONOMY: THE VIEWS ON THE PROGRESS OF ASTRONOMY)

  • Author(s):Daniel Špelda
  • Language:English
  • Subject(s):History, Philosophy
  • Page Range:131-140
  • No. of Pages:10
  • Keywords:History of astronomy; Renaissance astronomy; Early modern science; Progress of science;
  • Summary/Abstract:This paper focuses on the various ways in which astronomers in early modern period viewed the progress of astronomy Some of the Renaissance astronomers and scholars thought that it is necessary to find and restore ancient astronomy which had been given by God to the first humans. Gradually, however, among astronomers and the early historians of mathematical sciences the view prevailed that the true astronomy is not hidden in the past of the human race, but awaits humanity in the future as a result of long–term, international and trans–generational cooperation.
THE HISTORY OF SCIENCE AND SCIENCE EDUCATION: A PLANETARIUM AT SCHOOL

THE HISTORY OF SCIENCE AND SCIENCE EDUCATION: A PLANETARIUM AT SCHOOL
(THE HISTORY OF SCIENCE AND SCIENCE EDUCATION: A PLANETARIUM AT SCHOOL)

  • Author(s):Enzo Bonacci
  • Language:English
  • Subject(s):History, Social Sciences, Education, History of Education
  • Page Range:141-146
  • No. of Pages:6
  • Keywords:Planetarium; Measurements at School; Valorization policy; Historical astronomical educational elements;
  • Summary/Abstract:The Livio Gratton is a small size Planetarium (40–seat capacity) located in Latina (near Roma, Italy); it belongs to the Scientific High School G.B. Grassi since its construction in 2003. In less than eighteen months of activity the number of admissions has been superior to 4000, but the situation was rather different previously, when the almost absolute lack of information about the structure and the few visitors induced the headmaster to accomplish a managing, cultural, educational and scientific valorization policy. Such galvanizing experience is worthy to be described from the discouraging premises till the positive response from audience and critics.
DIGITIZATION AND ONLINE PUBLISHING OF THE WHOLE HISTORICAL ARCHIVES OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ASTRONOMY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF BOLOGNA

DIGITIZATION AND ONLINE PUBLISHING OF THE WHOLE HISTORICAL ARCHIVES OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ASTRONOMY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF BOLOGNA
(DIGITIZATION AND ONLINE PUBLISHING OF THE WHOLE HISTORICAL ARCHIVES OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ASTRONOMY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF BOLOGNA)

  • Author(s):Fabrizio Bònoli, Elena Cenacchi, Agnese Mandrino, Raffaella Stasi, Diego Zuccato
  • Language:English
  • Subject(s):History, Social Sciences, Education
  • Page Range:147-152
  • No. of Pages:6
  • Keywords:History of Astronomy; History of Science; Archives; Database;
  • Summary/Abstract:We present the first results of a project of digitization of the whole Historical Archives of the Department of Astronomy of the University of Bologna. The original documents are being digitized both at low and high resolution and stored as metadata. The watermarked low–resolution images are being published online, so that researchers can easily preview the original and largely unpublished archival materials.
THE ONTOLOGICAL LEVELS OF SCIENTIFIC THEORIES AND TECHNICAL, ETHICAL AND EDUCATIONAL PROGRESS

THE ONTOLOGICAL LEVELS OF SCIENTIFIC THEORIES AND TECHNICAL, ETHICAL AND EDUCATIONAL PROGRESS
(THE ONTOLOGICAL LEVELS OF SCIENTIFIC THEORIES AND TECHNICAL, ETHICAL AND EDUCATIONAL PROGRESS)

  • Author(s):Giuseppe Boscarino
  • Language:English
  • Subject(s):History, Social Sciences, Education, Ethics / Practical Philosophy, History of ideas, Ontology
  • Page Range:153-160
  • No. of Pages:8
  • Keywords:Ontology; Scientific theories; Traditions of thought; Ethical–Educational aspects of theories;
  • Summary/Abstract:What I discuss in my paper is the following: Does science deal only with facts? Does ethics deal only with values? It is shown as, in the science progressive working, what is, what has to be, what can be, and what ought to be are interconnected. The rationalistic and humanistic tradition about the way to make science and to teach it can establish a modern progressive education.
THE POLYTECHNIC SCHOOLS IN GERMANY IN 19TH CENTURY

THE POLYTECHNIC SCHOOLS IN GERMANY IN 19TH CENTURY
(THE POLYTECHNIC SCHOOLS IN GERMANY IN 19TH CENTURY)

  • Author(s):Danilo Capecchi, Giuseppe Ruta
  • Language:English
  • Subject(s):Social Sciences, Education, History of Education
  • Page Range:161-170
  • No. of Pages:10
  • Keywords:History of universities; Polytechnics; History of engineering
  • Summary/Abstract:We present a short history of polytechnic schools, with main reference to Germany. We devote particular attention on the Karlsruher Polytechnikum, organized university-like. On the basis of some original archive documents, we draw some conclusions on the German higher technical schools.
ATTRIBUTIONS AND MISATTRIBUTIONS AT THE ORIGINS OF SPECIAL RELATIVITY

ATTRIBUTIONS AND MISATTRIBUTIONS AT THE ORIGINS OF SPECIAL RELATIVITY
(ATTRIBUTIONS AND MISATTRIBUTIONS AT THE ORIGINS OF SPECIAL RELATIVITY)

  • Author(s):Marco Mamone Capria, Maria Grazia Manini
  • Language:English
  • Subject(s):History, History of ideas
  • Page Range:171-176
  • No. of Pages:6
  • Keywords:Special relativity; Lorentz transformations; Electromagnetism; Fields vs. Potentials; Lorentz; Poincaré; Einstein; Minkowski
  • Summary/Abstract:Minkowski wrote that a basic mathematical result (the Lorentz invariance of Maxwell equations) for the newborn special theory of relativity was “the theorem of relativity by Lorentz”. We explain that this name is unwarranted, and that in fact among the founders of the theory it was Poincaré who came closest to proving it. It is argued that historians should be careful not to rely uncritically on the bits of historical reconstruction that for different purposes scientists insert in their technical papers.
SURVEYING METHODS AND INSTRUMENTS IN THE SIXTH BOOK OF IERONIMO PICO FONTICULANO’S TREATISE ON GEOMETRY (1597)

SURVEYING METHODS AND INSTRUMENTS IN THE SIXTH BOOK OF IERONIMO PICO FONTICULANO’S TREATISE ON GEOMETRY (1597)
(SURVEYING METHODS AND INSTRUMENTS IN THE SIXTH BOOK OF IERONIMO PICO FONTICULANO’S TREATISE ON GEOMETRY (1597))

  • Author(s):Mario Centofanti, Stefano Brusaporci
  • Language:English
  • Subject(s):History, History of ideas
  • Page Range:177-184
  • No. of Pages:8
  • Keywords:History of science; Fonticulano; Surveying instruments; Surveying methods; Geometry;
  • Summary/Abstract:Many treatises on geometry were written in the XVI century. Ieronimo Pico Fonticulano (1541–1596) in the sixty book of his treatise titled Geometria (1597) describes the surveying instruments and their methodological and operative use. The aim of the paper is studying the instruments described by Fonticulano and, thanks to the numerous applicative examples, analysing the surveying methods. It focuses on instrument’s geometry and materials, their components, the using modalities, the instrumental positions, the working principles, the main application allowed. Last but not least instruments and methods are studied in relation to their historical context and to the ones presented in other treatises of the same age.
DRAWINGS CONCERNING ARTISTIC TECHNIQUES IN THE DIDEROT’S AND D’ALEMBERT’S ENCYCLOPAEDIA

DRAWINGS CONCERNING ARTISTIC TECHNIQUES IN THE DIDEROT’S AND D’ALEMBERT’S ENCYCLOPAEDIA
(DRAWINGS CONCERNING ARTISTIC TECHNIQUES IN THE DIDEROT’S AND D’ALEMBERT’S ENCYCLOPAEDIA)

  • Author(s):Emanuela Chiavoni
  • Language:English
  • Subject(s):History, Fine Arts / Performing Arts, Visual Arts, History of ideas
  • Page Range:185-192
  • No. of Pages:8
  • Keywords:History of scientific drawings; Artistic techniques; Diderot’s and D’Alembert’s Encyclopaedia;
  • Summary/Abstract:The objective of this paper is to analyse some drawings relating to the artistic techniques in the first volume of the Diderot’s Encyclopaedia (1751). The Encyclopaedia is still now considered the laic bible of the century of the lights. It has been selected some of the most significant pictures concerning to drawing,painting, mosaic, sculpture and engraving, showing the rich interconnections between these different kinds of art and the drawing, from whom all of them was born.
SOCIAL MECHANICS: FROM LEIBNIZ TO PARETO

SOCIAL MECHANICS: FROM LEIBNIZ TO PARETO
(SOCIAL MECHANICS: FROM LEIBNIZ TO PARETO)

  • Author(s):Vincenzo Cioci, Antonino Drago
  • Language:English
  • Subject(s):History, Social Philosophy, Early Modern Philosophy, History and theory of sociology
  • Page Range:193-200
  • No. of Pages:8
  • Keywords:Mechanical laws as social laws; Leibniz; Lazare Carnot; Haret; Pareto; Ophelimity;
  • Summary/Abstract:This work suggests in a parallel way to mechanical laws a series of social laws concerning the social conflict; a high level of development of this subject is recognised by collecting several contributions. The first laws derive from the social meaning that Leibniz attributed to the impact of elastic bodies. Later, the great strategist Lazare Carnot who compared the defence of strongholds and mechanical machines suggested some more laws. In 1910 Spiru Haret (1851–1912) wrote Mécanique sociale (Haret 1910) a handbook on these laws and Pareto tried to formalise the individual’s behaviour inside a market through the principleof virtual displacements.
NOTES ON HISTORIOGRAPHY OF ENGINEERING IN ITALY DURING THE 20TH CENTURY

NOTES ON HISTORIOGRAPHY OF ENGINEERING IN ITALY DURING THE 20TH CENTURY
(NOTES ON HISTORIOGRAPHY OF ENGINEERING IN ITALY DURING THE 20TH CENTURY)

  • Author(s):Salvatore D’Agostino
  • Language:English
  • Subject(s):History, Social Sciences, Education
  • Page Range:201-208
  • No. of Pages:8
  • Keywords:Engineering; Historiograpy; Schools; Italy;
  • Summary/Abstract:The great world of Engineering has outbursted in its all different aspects, from university education to technological and industrial development, both civil and mechanical engineering, as well as electrical and chemical, aerospace and computer science. Due to major concentration on research and innovation, projection toward an inexhaustible technological development affecting relevant and everlasting changing of everyday life, history has been neglected. These continuous changings lead to an overgrowing disorientation and suspicion among people since technical and scientific culture is unprepared to face political and social demand of an historical period in which regressive tendencies against scientific progress arise.
TITO GONNELLA’S PLANIMETER

TITO GONNELLA’S PLANIMETER
(TITO GONNELLA’S PLANIMETER)

  • Author(s):Alessandra d’Amico Finardi
  • Language:English
  • Subject(s):History
  • Page Range:209-216
  • No. of Pages:8
  • Keywords:Area measuring tools; Planimeter; Tito Gonnella;
  • Summary/Abstract:The planimeters are area measuring tools. Now they are precision instruments used to trace around a closed loop of an object to find its area. The planimeters are used by engineers, surveyors, contractors, designers, and more. There are many kinds of planimeters, but principally roller and polar planimeters were introduced and used. The Swiss mathematician Jakob Amsler–Laffon (1823–1912) built the first modern planimeter in 1854, the concept having been pioneered by Johann Martin Hermann (1785?–1841) in 1814 and by Tito Gonnella (1794–1867) in 1824. In this paper I will present Gonnella’s planimeter and its peculiarities
THE DUALISM WAVE–PARTICLE AND PRINCIPLE OF RELATIVITY

THE DUALISM WAVE–PARTICLE AND PRINCIPLE OF RELATIVITY
(THE DUALISM WAVE–PARTICLE AND PRINCIPLE OF RELATIVITY)

  • Author(s):Pietro Di Mauro
  • Language:English
  • Subject(s):History
  • Page Range:217-226
  • No. of Pages:10
  • Keywords:Dualism wave –particle; Relativity; Landé; de Broglie’s relations;
  • Summary/Abstract:Is it compatible the de Broglie’s relation with the principle of relativity? A few reflections and ideas to put together the principle of relativity, foundation of classic and relativistic physics, and the wave–particle dualism, basis of quantum mechanics.
THE EMERGENCE OF TWO OPTIONS FROM EINSTEIN’S FIRST PAPER ON QUANTA (1905)

THE EMERGENCE OF TWO OPTIONS FROM EINSTEIN’S FIRST PAPER ON QUANTA (1905)
(THE EMERGENCE OF TWO OPTIONS FROM EINSTEIN’S FIRST PAPER ON QUANTA (1905))

  • Author(s):Antonino Drago
  • Language:English
  • Subject(s):History
  • Page Range:227-234
  • No. of Pages:8
  • Keywords:Black body; Einstein; Kind of mathematics; Kind of organisation; Non–classical logic; Alternative foundations;
  • Summary/Abstract:Two aspects of Albert Einstein’s 1905 paper (On an Heuristic point of view concerning the Production and Transformation of Light) are examined: the kind of organisation of the theory and the kind of mathematics. It is shown that Albert Einstein (1879–1955) substantially made use of constructive mathematics,which is alternative to classical mathematics. Moreover, it is shown that Einstein organised the presentation according to the model of a problem–based theory, a model that is alternative to the traditional model of a deductive theory. This result makes it possible to illustrate in details the logical structure of Einstein’s paper. In the history of theoretical physics, Einstein’s theory was the first to manifest a consistent foundation on both the above–mentioned choices, which are the alternative to the Newtonian. In this profound sense this paper was very revolutionary.
PLANCK’S “LONG AND MULTIPLY TWISTED [AND INCONCLUSIVE] PATH” TOWARDS A BLACK BODY THEORY

PLANCK’S “LONG AND MULTIPLY TWISTED [AND INCONCLUSIVE] PATH” TOWARDS A BLACK BODY THEORY
(PLANCK’S “LONG AND MULTIPLY TWISTED [AND INCONCLUSIVE] PATH” TOWARDS A BLACK BODY THEORY)

  • Author(s):Antonino Drago
  • Language:English
  • Subject(s):History, History of ideas, Philosophy of Science
  • Page Range:235-242
  • No. of Pages:8
  • Keywords:Planck; Black Body Theory; Quanta;
  • Summary/Abstract:Karl Ernst Ludwig Max Planck (1858–1947) suggested the quanta through a long series of calculations aimed at solving the problem of black–body radiation. These calculations are easily divided into six groups. It is shown that each group is disconnected from any other group. Planck’s successful results are justified as either lucky calculations or retrospective calculations from the Wien’s experimental law. Several scholars pointed out strong theoretical reasons for considering them insufficient to provide a correct notion of quanta of energy. By applying an operative definition of incommensurability, it is proved that they are insufficient because Planck ignored the mutual incommensurability in therelationship between the classical theories and the new theory.
FROM SCIENCE TO PHILOSOPHY: ALFRED NORTH WHITHEAD AND THE NOTION OF PROCESS

FROM SCIENCE TO PHILOSOPHY: ALFRED NORTH WHITHEAD AND THE NOTION OF PROCESS
(FROM SCIENCE TO PHILOSOPHY: ALFRED NORTH WHITHEAD AND THE NOTION OF PROCESS)

  • Author(s):Francesco Maria Ferrari
  • Language:English
  • Subject(s):History, Philosophy, Philosophy of Science
  • Page Range:243-250
  • No. of Pages:8
  • Keywords:Asymmetries; Complexity; Modus ponendo ponens; Non–linear thermodynamics; Prigogine; Processes; Whitehead;
  • Summary/Abstract:Ilya Prigogine (1913–2003) discovered that importation and dissipation of energy into complex systems could reverse the maximization of entropy rule imposed by the second law of thermodynamics. Beginning from a sketch of what a complex system consists of and some epistemological consequences, I will show which instances of process approach are able to give some preliminary ontological basis for a more adequate understanding of nature with its own indeterminacy, surfaced as empirical evidence inner non–linearthermodynamics. The idea is to connect these issues for reinterpreting the verification principle in experimental method, avoiding Popper’s criticism to it and in agreement with falsification procedure.
1772–1813. ON EARLY SCIENTIFIC ACTIVITY OF THE ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATORY AT UNIVERSITY OF COIMBRA

1772–1813. ON EARLY SCIENTIFIC ACTIVITY OF THE ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATORY AT UNIVERSITY OF COIMBRA
(1772–1813. ON EARLY SCIENTIFIC ACTIVITY OF THE ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATORY AT UNIVERSITY OF COIMBRA)

  • Author(s):Fernando Bandeira Figueiredo
  • Language:English
  • Subject(s):History, Higher Education , History of Education, 18th Century, 19th Century
  • Page Range:251-258
  • No. of Pages:8
  • Keywords:18th century; University of Coimbra; Astronomy; Observatory; Astronomical Ephemeris;
  • Summary/Abstract:The establishment of scientific education at the University of Coimbra was one of the most important accomplishments of the Reform of the University in 1772. One of the best examples is the creation of the Faculty Mathematics and of the Astronomical Observatory (OAUC). The foundation of the OAUC – thefirst Portuguese university–based astronomical observatory, although with attributes typical of a national observatory – was fundamental in the institutionalization of astronomical science in Portugal. José Monteiro da Rocha (1734–1819) was the central personality beyond the conception, planning and construction of OAUC, as well as in its instrument’s provision. He was also behind the applied mathematical and astronomical methods that allowed the OAUC to establish and publish its most important and significant scientific production: the Astronomical Ephemeris (1803). In this paper, we will review Monteiro da Rocha’s contributions for the foundation of the OAUC and its scientific astronomical activity.
LUDWIK SILBERSTEIN IN ITALY

LUDWIK SILBERSTEIN IN ITALY
(LUDWIK SILBERSTEIN IN ITALY)

  • Author(s):Piotr Flin, Wlodzimierz Godlowski
  • Language:English
  • Subject(s):History, Social Sciences, Education, History of ideas
  • Page Range:259-264
  • No. of Pages:6
  • Keywords:Silberstein; Physics; Docentship; Bologna; Roma;
  • Summary/Abstract:Ludwik Silberstein (1872–1948) was the Polish–American scientist who worked in many branches of physics, but he is remembered mainly due to his work in general relativity. We present the influence of Ludwik Silberstein when staying as libero docente (in Italy until 1970, private docentship) in Bologna and Rome Universities (1899–1904, 1904–1920 respectively) on his scientific development and further career.
COURT ENGINEERING IN PTOLEMAIC ALEXANDRIA

COURT ENGINEERING IN PTOLEMAIC ALEXANDRIA
(COURT ENGINEERING IN PTOLEMAIC ALEXANDRIA)

  • Author(s):Helen Fragaki
  • Language:English
  • Subject(s):History, History of ideas, Ancient World
  • Page Range:265-270
  • No. of Pages:6
  • Keywords:Alexandrian engineering; Artillery; Automata; Hero of Alexandria; Hydraulics; Ktesibios; Philo of Byzantium; Royal propaganda;
  • Summary/Abstract:The works of Ktesibios, Philo and Hero show that the use of abstract principles for technical purposes had been widely practiced in the Alexandrian Museum and Library since the 3rd c. BC. This paper explores the political, religious and ideological issues of these practices, especially their relationship to the process of the divinisation of kings, which started during this period. The eminent role of applied science, which was perceived as an extension and a proof of the rulers’ divine power, explains why the transgression of the opposition between theoretical research and mechanics was overcome in the realm of court engineering.
FIELD EQUATIONS OR CONSERVATION LAWS?

FIELD EQUATIONS OR CONSERVATION LAWS?
(FIELD EQUATIONS OR CONSERVATION LAWS?)

  • Author(s):Mauro Francaviglia, Marcella Palese, Ekkehart Winterroth
  • Language:English
  • Subject(s):History, Social Sciences
  • Page Range:271-278
  • No. of Pages:8
  • Keywords:Being; Becoming; Conservation laws; Field theory; Noether’s Theorems;
  • Summary/Abstract:We explicate some epistemological implications of stationary principles and in particular of Noether Theorems. Noether’s contribution to the problem of covariance, in fact, is epistemologically relevant, since it moves the attention from equations to conservation laws.
“... MAY GOD PROTECT YOU FROM LIGHTNING ...”

“... MAY GOD PROTECT YOU FROM LIGHTNING ...”
(“... MAY GOD PROTECT YOU FROM LIGHTNING ...”)

  • Author(s):Arturo Gallozzi
  • Language:English
  • Subject(s):History, History of ideas, 18th Century, 19th Century
  • Page Range:279-286
  • No. of Pages:8
  • Keywords:Abbey of Monte Cassino; Lightning rods; Feliciano Scarpellini; Angelo Secchi; Francesco Denza;
  • Summary/Abstract:This study analyzes one of the first, and most important, installations of a lightning conductor system in Italy, applied to a monumental complex: the Abbey of Monte Cassino, in Southern Lazio. This study – in addition to a profile of the designer of the system, Feliciano Scarpellini (1762–1840) an astronomer and professor of physics, a leading scholar and scientific investigator in Italy during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, the founder, among other things, of the Accademia Caetani, which later became the Accademia dei Lincei – analyzes the relief and planar–altimetric arrangement of the lightning rods, which, together with other partially unpublished documents, provides several important measurements of the Abbey, which, completely destroyed by ferocious cimbat during the Second World War, left little graphic evidence that describes it geometrically. It also outlines the profiles of other scholars who contributed invarious ways to pre–war lightning–rod system installations.
MATHEMATICS AND NARRATOLOGY: EXPLORING THE STRUCTURE OF PIRANDELLO’S NOVELS ACCORDING TO THE MÖBIUS RING

MATHEMATICS AND NARRATOLOGY: EXPLORING THE STRUCTURE OF PIRANDELLO’S NOVELS ACCORDING TO THE MÖBIUS RING
(MATHEMATICS AND NARRATOLOGY: EXPLORING THE STRUCTURE OF PIRANDELLO’S NOVELS ACCORDING TO THE MÖBIUS RING)

  • Author(s):Dimitra Giannara
  • Language:English
  • Subject(s):History, Philosophy, Studies of Literature, History of ideas
  • Page Range:287-296
  • No. of Pages:10
  • Keywords:Pirandello; Möbius ring; Incompleteness theory; Recursive definitions; Bilateral trip;
  • Summary/Abstract:In this paper firstly I give a descriptive overview of the structure of Luigi Pirandello’s (1867–1936) novels in a ringkomposition. I subsequently replace the common knowledge of the ring with the one proposed by August Ferdinand Möbius (1790–1868). Finally and, as a result, we arrive to some seditious conclusions concerning what we thought to know about Pirandello’s heroes. Particularly I will show that they were directing away from self–reference or formal rules by rambling inside and outside the ordinary social topology. The interactions studied by physics are in the present paper fabricated in the five–dimensional space of literature which revaluates the modern conceptions of time, space and causality.
CONFIRMING SPECIAL RELATIVITY IN SPITE OF HIMSELF. THE ORIGIN OF IVES–STILWELL EXPERIMENT

CONFIRMING SPECIAL RELATIVITY IN SPITE OF HIMSELF. THE ORIGIN OF IVES–STILWELL EXPERIMENT
(CONFIRMING SPECIAL RELATIVITY IN SPITE OF HIMSELF. THE ORIGIN OF IVES–STILWELL EXPERIMENT)

  • Author(s):Roberto Lalli
  • Language:English
  • Subject(s):History, History of ideas
  • Page Range:297-304
  • No. of Pages:8
  • Keywords:Special relativity theory; Einstein; Ether; Lorentz theory; Time–dilation factor; Fringe–mainstream relationships; Michelson–Morley; Kennedy–Thorndike;
  • Summary/Abstract:In 1938, the American industrial physicist Herbert E. Ives performed the Ives–Stilwell experiment, named after him and his assistant G. R. Stilwell. While physics textbooks describe the experiment as a confirmation of special relativity theory (SRT), Ives regarded the result of the experiment as a proof of the Larmor–Lorentz hypothesis of the contraction of the time–pulse of an atomic clock in motion through the ether. The aim of this communication is to provide a historical analysis of Ives’s motivations to perform the experiment as well as of his theoretical presuppositions concerning the relationship between ether theories and relativity.
GERALD JAMES WHITROW’S PHILOSOPHICAL APPROACH TO THE EXPANDING UNIVERSE

GERALD JAMES WHITROW’S PHILOSOPHICAL APPROACH TO THE EXPANDING UNIVERSE
(GERALD JAMES WHITROW’S PHILOSOPHICAL APPROACH TO THE EXPANDING UNIVERSE)

  • Author(s):Giovanni Macchia
  • Language:English
  • Subject(s):History, Philosophy, Philosophy of Science
  • Page Range:305-312
  • No. of Pages:8
  • Keywords:Whitrow; Cosmology; Expanding universe; Philosophy of space;
  • Summary/Abstract:One of the few authors to have explicitly connected the cosmological issue of the universe’s expansion with the philosophy of space is Gerald James Whitrow (1912–2000). A man of extraordinary erudition, he was a British physical mathematician, cosmologist and historian of science. His main contributions were in cosmology and astrophysics, but he also wrote noteworthy essays in history and philosophy of science, above all on the concept of time. His masterpiece is The Natural Philosophy of Time, a monumental book published in 1961 and 1980. My analysis will be focused on it, specifically upon his position on the philosophical implications regarding space as they emerge from modern cosmology.
THE COUNT PAOLO BALLADA DE SAINT ROBERT AND HIS RECEDING OF THE GLACIERS

THE COUNT PAOLO BALLADA DE SAINT ROBERT AND HIS RECEDING OF THE GLACIERS
(THE COUNT PAOLO BALLADA DE SAINT ROBERT AND HIS RECEDING OF THE GLACIERS)

  • Author(s):Federica Maffioli, Gianfranco Medici
  • Language:English
  • Subject(s):History, Geography, Regional studies, History of ideas
  • Page Range:313-320
  • No. of Pages:8
  • Keywords:Adhémar; Alps; History of climate change; Glaciers; Marsh; Milankovitch;
  • Summary/Abstract:The Count Paolo Ballada de Saint Robert (1815–1888) was an Italian scientist mainly busy in mechanics and thermodynamics. This paper describes the conclusions of Saint Robert concerning the retreat of glaciers and tries to explain his theory through modern knowledge.
PTOLEMAIC AND COPERNICAN GLOBES IN THE 17TH CENTURY: SHORT REMARKS ON THE HANDBOOKS BY BLAEU AND BION

PTOLEMAIC AND COPERNICAN GLOBES IN THE 17TH CENTURY: SHORT REMARKS ON THE HANDBOOKS BY BLAEU AND BION
(PTOLEMAIC AND COPERNICAN GLOBES IN THE 17TH CENTURY: SHORT REMARKS ON THE HANDBOOKS BY BLAEU AND BION)

  • Author(s):Flavia Marcacci
  • Language:English
  • Subject(s):History, Maps / Cartography, History of ideas, 16th Century, 17th Century
  • Page Range:321-328
  • No. of Pages:8
  • Keywords:Ptolemaic globes; Copernican globes; Astronomy; Blaeu; Bion;
  • Summary/Abstract:The famous Dutch cartographer and publisher Willem Janszoon Blaeu (1571–1638) qualified himself as an instrument and globe maker under direction of T˙cho Brahe (1546–1572). In his Institution astronomique Blaeu explained the differences between techniques of construction and usage of Ptolemaic and Copernican globes. Nicolas Bion (1652?–1733) was a less renowned globe maker. In L’usage des globes celestes et terrestres he described how constructing Ptolemaic and Copernican globes. An interesting and unusual proof of persistent problem of world systems comparison in XVIIth century.
PAUL DE SAINT ROBERT AND HIS TRUE MEANING OF A TERCET OF DANTE

PAUL DE SAINT ROBERT AND HIS TRUE MEANING OF A TERCET OF DANTE
(PAUL DE SAINT ROBERT AND HIS TRUE MEANING OF A TERCET OF DANTE)

  • Author(s):Gianfranco Medici, Federica Maffioli
  • Language:English
  • Subject(s):History, Philosophy, Philosophy of Middle Ages, Philosophy of Science
  • Page Range:329-336
  • No. of Pages:8
  • Keywords:Allegorical; astronomy; Chant I; Commentators; Dante; Equinoxes; masterpiece; Paul de Saint Robert; Precession; Purgatory;
  • Summary/Abstract:Count Paul Ballada de Saint Robert (1815–1888), man of great genius and scholar of various scientific disciplines, shows with the help of science what is the exact meaning of the verses 22.24 of the I chant of Purgatory. Many commentators on these verses of Dante’s (1265–1321) masterpiece, in order to avoid the difficulties of a literal explanation and ignoring the fact that Dante knew very well astronomy, provide only an allegorical and fanciful meaning. The explanation of Saint Robert, on the contrary, is based on the astrophysical phenomenon called “precession of the equinoxes” which was well known to Dante.
NOTES ON THE CONCEPT OF FORCE IN KEPLER

NOTES ON THE CONCEPT OF FORCE IN KEPLER
(NOTES ON THE CONCEPT OF FORCE IN KEPLER)

  • Author(s):Raffaele Pisano, Paolo Bussotti
  • Language:English
  • Subject(s):History, History of ideas
  • Page Range:337-344
  • No. of Pages:8
  • Keywords:Kepler; Concept of force; Astronomy; Planetary systems; Gravitation; Magnetism; Theory of light;
  • Summary/Abstract:In this paper we present some historical and epistemological Notės to trace a general picture of the concept of force in Kepler with the aim to provide: a) conceptual bases of Keplerian notion of force; b) a stimulus to the Kepler Forschung as to this concept.
THE MODERN THERMODYNAMICS AS BASED ON THE PRINCIPLE OF VIRTUAL WORK

THE MODERN THERMODYNAMICS AS BASED ON THE PRINCIPLE OF VIRTUAL WORK
(THE MODERN THERMODYNAMICS AS BASED ON THE PRINCIPLE OF VIRTUAL WORK)

  • Author(s):Raffaele Pisano, Antonino Drago
  • Language:English
  • Subject(s):History, Philosophy, ICT Information and Communications Technologies
  • Page Range:345-352
  • No. of Pages:8
  • Keywords:Thermodynamics; Mechanics; Virtual work; Sadi Carnot; Lazare Carnot;
  • Summary/Abstract:The principle of virtual work governs some formulations of mechanins which are alternative to Newtonian mechanics. Lazare Carnot explicitly claimed to have founded his formulation on principle of virtual velocities, which for the first time obtained in a theoretical way the characteristic laws of mechanical machines. An analysis of Sadi Carnot’s thermodynamics’ theoretical premises reveals that most of them represent characteristic features of the principle of virtual work, so it is possible to suggest a formal link between Lazare Carnot’s mechanics and modern thermodynamics: two basic principles of the latter one,included the correct formula for the efficiency of a heat engine.
THE DEVELOPMENTS OF ENGLISH SCIENCE AND SCIENTIFIC POPULARIZATION BETWEEN 1700 AND 1800

THE DEVELOPMENTS OF ENGLISH SCIENCE AND SCIENTIFIC POPULARIZATION BETWEEN 1700 AND 1800
(THE DEVELOPMENTS OF ENGLISH SCIENCE AND SCIENTIFIC POPULARIZATION BETWEEN 1700 AND 1800)

  • Author(s):Arcangelo Rossi
  • Language:English
  • Subject(s):History, History of ideas, 18th Century, 19th Century
  • Page Range:353-358
  • No. of Pages:6
  • Keywords:History of physics; English Science XVIIIth–XIXth Centuries; Scientific Popularization XVIIIth–XIXth Centuries;
  • Summary/Abstract:In the climate of the late XVIIIth century’s industrial revolution a new opening took place in England towards scientific education and popularization. This opening can be fully understood only by paying attention to the whole dynamics of the connected social and cultural changes concerning, in particular,the relationships between science and technique. Here I focus the most essential of those changes marking the transition from the XVIIIth century’s natural philosophy to the XIXth century’s English science and technology, accompanied by the development of a scientific popularization also linked to immediateproductive interests in an almost consolidated bourgeois society.
THE TECHNIQUES AND METHODS OF ITALIAN ARCHITECTURAL DRAWINGS OF THE EARLY 20TH CENTURY

THE TECHNIQUES AND METHODS OF ITALIAN ARCHITECTURAL DRAWINGS OF THE EARLY 20TH CENTURY
(THE TECHNIQUES AND METHODS OF ITALIAN ARCHITECTURAL DRAWINGS OF THE EARLY 20TH CENTURY)

  • Author(s):Antonella Salucci
  • Language:English
  • Subject(s):History, Fine Arts / Performing Arts, Architecture
  • Page Range:359-366
  • No. of Pages:8
  • Keywords:Academy; Competition drawings; Visual impact; Graphic inventory;
  • Summary/Abstract:This paper shows the results of a research experience carried out on a significant body of original architectural competition drawings, with the aim to highlight a number of interesting aspects of architectural education and the communication of architectural ideas within history of sciences. This graphic evidence, connoted by its twofold nature of didactic experimentation and professional practice, anticipates the characteristics of the drawings produced by the protagonists of the so–called Roman School: multifaceted figures active as Professors, Designers and Masters.
THE VARIABLE RADIUS CARTOGRAPHY: THE NEW EXPERIMENTAL DISCIPLINE

THE VARIABLE RADIUS CARTOGRAPHY: THE NEW EXPERIMENTAL DISCIPLINE
(THE VARIABLE RADIUS CARTOGRAPHY: THE NEW EXPERIMENTAL DISCIPLINE)

  • Author(s):Giancarlo Scalera
  • Language:English
  • Subject(s):History, Social Sciences, Maps / Cartography
  • Page Range:367-374
  • No. of Pages:8
  • Keywords:Variable radius cartography; History of cartography; Expanding Earth;
  • Summary/Abstract:It is an aim of the present extended abstract to show that in the last century cartography was used in a way more or less complex, more or less intertwined with other disciplines and databases, not as pure representation or in the spirit of the simple fits that supported continental displacements, but as experiments of greater significance with a value of proof in favour of the planet expansion, and providing suggestions to Physics, Astronomy and Cosmology about probable incompleteness of their current conceptions.
ART AND SCIENCE OF BUILDING IN THE WORK OF GIUSEPPE DAMIANI ALMEYDA

ART AND SCIENCE OF BUILDING IN THE WORK OF GIUSEPPE DAMIANI ALMEYDA
(ART AND SCIENCE OF BUILDING IN THE WORK OF GIUSEPPE DAMIANI ALMEYDA)

  • Author(s):Cesare Tocci
  • Language:English
  • Subject(s):History, Architecture, History of ideas
  • Page Range:375-382
  • No. of Pages:8
  • Keywords:Damiani Almeyda; Art of building; Strength of materials;
  • Summary/Abstract:The work discusses the changes that have occurred in the structural control of architecture in the second half of the XIXth century. The starting point is supplied by the examination of two projects of the architect–engineer Giuseppe Damiani Almeyda, representative of two successive moments of an evolutionary process whose current outcome seems to be a deep fracture between the fields of architecture and engineering. Giuseppe Damiani Almeyda constitutes a paradigmatic figure of that particular historical moment in which the transition from the ancient art of building to the modern strength of materials occurs.
THE SCIENTIFIC WORK OF ANTONIO MARIA JACI IN MESSINA

THE SCIENTIFIC WORK OF ANTONIO MARIA JACI IN MESSINA
(THE SCIENTIFIC WORK OF ANTONIO MARIA JACI IN MESSINA)

  • Author(s):Maria Luisa Tuscano
  • Language:English
  • Subject(s):History, History of ideas, 18th Century, 19th Century
  • Page Range:383-392
  • No. of Pages:10
  • Keywords:Jaci; Observatory; Astronomy; Meridiana;
  • Summary/Abstract:Antonio Maria Jaci (1739–1815), born in Naples, spent his life teaching mathematics in Messina. His research interests concern both theoretical aspects and applications in astronomy, navigation and physics with personal contributions praised in his biographies. His commitment to the problem of determining longitude in the sea, the complex design of the Meridiana for the Dome of Messina, the attempt to solve the irreducible case of cubic equations, constitute an effective witness of a lively and prolific commitment that deserves a critical analysis also thanks to the discovery of additional documents, currently under consideration in collaboration with the astronomical Observatory of Palermo.
GALILEO’S USE OF PRACTICAL KNOWLEDGE

GALILEO’S USE OF PRACTICAL KNOWLEDGE
(GALILEO’S USE OF PRACTICAL KNOWLEDGE)

  • Author(s):Epaminondas Vampoulis
  • Language:English
  • Subject(s):History, History of ideas, 16th Century, 17th Century
  • Page Range:393-394
  • No. of Pages:2
  • Keywords:Galileo’s Discorsi; rational thinking;
  • Summary/Abstract:In this paper a new look upon Galileo’s Discorsi is proposed, a look based on the use of practical knowledge made in this major work. It is interesting to note that Galileo places the three interlocutors of the dialogue in an arsenal, and that this place determines the subject of the conversations they will have, especially of their conversation on the problem of the resistance of matter to fracture. The study of this problem in the Discorsi is related to significant practical consequences as well as to the work which is done in the arsenal. According to Salviati and Sagredo who open the dialogue, one can acquire knowledge in the area of mechanics by making use of the knowledge accumulated by the artisans who work in the arsenal. To be more precise, the total amount of the observations one can acquire in the arsenal does not contain just those gathered by the artisans themselves, but consists of a larger group of observations some of which come from their predecessors. Having in their minds the total amount of these observations, some artisans of the arsenal are according to Salviati well equipped in order to develop their own thoughts by using their own reason.
GIORDANO BRUNO AND THE PROPORTIONAL EIGHT SPIKE COMPASS

GIORDANO BRUNO AND THE PROPORTIONAL EIGHT SPIKE COMPASS
(GIORDANO BRUNO AND THE PROPORTIONAL EIGHT SPIKE COMPASS)

  • Author(s):Valentina Zaffino
  • Language:English
  • Subject(s):History, History of ideas, Renaissance Philosophy, Philosophy of Science, 16th Century
  • Page Range:395-402
  • No. of Pages:8
  • Keywords:Renaissance; Compass; Bruno; Mordente; Divisibility; Antwerp; Trifigura;
  • Summary/Abstract:The proportional eight spike compass, invented by Fabrizio Mordente (1532–1608), is an instrument that much interested Giordano Bruno (1548–1600). It could measure the infinitesimal fractions of the angular degrees and calculate the proportions between lines, geometric shapes and solids, working on the proportionality and commensurability of angles and segments. This new precision in calculations confirmed Bruno’s thesis of the existence of the physical minimum as opposed to the Aristotelian thesis of the infinite divisibility. So far scholarship has mainly tackled the philosophical and historiographical aspects of this issue; we on the other hand will investigate the mathematical and geometric implications of Bruno’s claim.
A STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS OF THE TIMBER TRUSSES IN ITALY (1800–1950)

A STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS OF THE TIMBER TRUSSES IN ITALY (1800–1950)
(A STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS OF THE TIMBER TRUSSES IN ITALY (1800–1950))

  • Author(s):Emanuele Zamperini
  • Language:English
  • Subject(s):History, Recent History (1900 till today), 19th Century
  • Page Range:403-410
  • No. of Pages:8
  • Keywords:Timber trusses; Theory of structures; Statically indeterminate structures;
  • Summary/Abstract:Until the mid–19th century timber trusses were designed on empirical basis thanks to a centuries–old experience; they couldn’t be analysed with the theory of statically–determinate trusses, because loads weren’t applied in the joints, hypothesis required to ignore the static indeterminacy. In the late 1850s a specific structural analysis method was developed for timber trusses, considering rafters as continuous beams on rigid supports. Ignoring the deformation of intermediate supports, such analysis didn’t satisfy constitutive and strain–displacement equations. Even if since the 1870s the theoretical developments allowed the exact calculation of statically–indeterminate structures, often engineers still resorted to empiricism, or simplified methods.
REMEMBERING MAURO FRANCAVIGLIA

REMEMBERING MAURO FRANCAVIGLIA
(REMEMBERING MAURO FRANCAVIGLIA)

  • Author(s):Marcella Palese, Ekkehart Winterroth
  • Language:English
  • Subject(s):History, Epistemology, Philosophy of Science
  • Page Range:411-412
  • No. of Pages:2
  • Keywords:epistemological problems; scientific work;
  • Summary/Abstract:The relevance and worldwide impact of the scientific work of MauroFrancaviglia is very well known.We want here to recall his ability in communicating science and thus, inparticular, his role as scientific guide for us, since we were his PhDstudents. What was fascinating in being a student of Mauro was hisinterest for science as a whole, for ideas rather than merely computations.
Remembering Epaminondas Vampoulis

Remembering Epaminondas Vampoulis
(Remembering Epaminondas Vampoulis)

  • Author(s):Dimitra Giannara
  • Language:English
  • Subject(s):History, Essay|Book Review |Scientific Life
  • Page Range:413-414
  • No. of Pages:2
  • Keywords:significant researcher; Epaminondas Vampoulis;
  • Summary/Abstract:In the age of 45 years, Epaminondas Vampoulis passed away a few weeks before SISFA congress, where he was expected as a contributor.He was a significant researcher with a relevant work at the Universities of Patras and Thessaloniki, where he was teaching these last years. Hispassionate interest for the philosophy of the XVII and XVIII centuries, and especially for the bonds between science and philosophy, gave fruit to many constructive lessons and scientific articles.
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