The Accademia del Cimento and its European Context
Marco Beretta, Antonio Clericuzio, and Lawrence M. Principe, editors
“Going beyond a narrow focus on institutional settings, the collection shows how research moved along broad networks of exchange, which sometimes exploited pre-existing political and diplomatic channels, but also became increasingly independent.” —Metascience, (2010) 19:139–141
“Though short-lived, the 17th-century Florentine scientific society was significant for its devotion to pure scientific research and experimentation. This beautifully produced collection of 15 articles offers studies of the work and philosophies of different academy members and six articles on the place of the Academia among other scientific academies of the time…”—SciTech Book News
“…Here we encounter fluid alliances of collaboration and correspondence built by complex individuals pursuing contested and possibly heterodox philosophical programs…In addition to treatments of members’ investigations of the nature of light and air and the observation of Saturn, we find novel essays on a variety of topics, such as anatomy, chemistry, medicine, natural history, and interdisciplinary experimental method. For the persuasive revisions offered, the breath of subjects covered, and the clarity and skill of the analysis, this book will be essential reading for future studies.”—Chemical Heritage, vol. 28 (2010)The Accademia del Cimento, organized in Florence under Medici patronage, devoted itself for ten years (1657-1667) to the experimental investigation of a broad range of scientific matters, and provided a model and inspiration for many subsequent scientific societies. Despite its crucial position in the history of science, the Cimento’s work and diverse membership has remained incompletely studied. This volume contains fifteen papers by an international array of scholars on new aspects of the various projects, members, and methods of the Cimento and its relationship to other early modern academies.
July 2009, 280 pp., illustrated, ISBN 978-0-88135-387-7, $49.95
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