The journals of mathematics at the University of Pisa and European influences

Iolanda Nagliati Mathematics and International Relationships in Print and Correspondence CIRM (Trento) Pisa and its University:

. peculiar situation

. long history of journals

1771 – present The journals  Giornale de' letterati 1 (1771) - 102 (1796)

 Nuovo giornale de’ letterati 1 (1802) - 8 (1803) n.s. 1 (1804) - 4 (1806)

 Giornale pisano de' letterati 5 (1806) - 11 (1809)

Giornale scientifico e letterario dell'Accademia italiana di scienze, lettere e arti 1 (1810) - 2 (1810) Nuovo giornale de' letterati 1 (1822) - 39 (1839)

(Pisa 1839: First Congress of Italian Scientists)

Antologia (1821-1832) Giornale Toscano di scienze mediche, fisiche e naturali 1840-43

Giornale di scienze morali, sociali, storiche e filologiche 1841

Miscellanee medico – chirurgiche farmaceutiche 1843, 2 vols

Miscellanee di chimica, fisica, e storia naturale 1843

Il Cimento 1844-47, 5 vols

(1855 Nuovo Cimento) Annali delle Università Toscane 1(1846) – 34 (1915) n.s. 1 (1916) – 9 (1924)

Annali della Scuola Normale 1871 – 1930 (I s.) 1932 – 1950, 1951 – 1973, 1974 – 1997 1997 – Giornale de’ letterati

(1771-1796)

• Organ of the board of professors (strengths and weaknesses)

• title inspired by the Journal des savants

• Angelo Fabroni superintendent and director of the journal

• One of the most influential journal in in late XVII century

• Rediscovery of Galileo: claim of scientific merits of

• 1796 Fabroni yields to Giovanni Rosini its printing activities Angelo Fabroni (1732 – 1803) “privilegio” to print in his home

→ very rapid circulation by sending to subscribers

Giornale sold in Pisa, , Rome, Bologna, Milan, Siena, Naples

Explicit and continuos attention to foreign authors

Abroad (Fabroni’s correspondence – journey in 1773): • d’Alembert • Bernoulli • Condorcet, • J.D.Cassini • count of Hertzberg • abbot Bartélhemy

Importance of the Vitae

First history of the university 1770 proposal (T. Perelli) of a journal in the university of Pisa with only original contributions, on the model of the proceedings of the Academy of Sciences, the Acta eruditorum etc. (G.A. Slop: publication of astronomical observations)

Fabroni considered the teaching staff not qualified, and thought that the best researchers would prefer monographs

Different choice: newspaper (less scientific commitment)

Fabroni author of many articles and whole sections, others were generally written by professors, but some external collaborations were accepted

In the first series the most contributions are anonymous, some information on the identity of the authors can be reconstructed from various sources, such as the correspondence (Fossombroni)

In the following series authors sign their contributions and are solely responsible for (different reaction to the controversy) Structure of the journal: 9 – 10 scientific papers (2 – 3 mathematics or physics, 25-30% of pages) Reviews as “estratti” (sometimes written by the author himself): “si rendono assai più interessanti dell’opera stessa; onde è che più di cognizione si guadagna alle volte nella breve e piacevol lettura d’un articolo d’un buon Giornale, che nella lunga e noiosa d’un grosso volume.” (but for mathematical articles: “dover essere tanto più ristretti, quanto sono più interessanti l'eccellenti opere di cui si ragiona, giacché le profonde speculazioni analitiche ed i lunghi calcoli di rado sono suscettibili di estratto”) •Histoire de l’Académie des Sciences (separate reports for the physical, “più gioconda”, and mathematical parts) •Berlin Academy •Turin Academy

Eulogies (appreciated by Fabroni, and frequently used also to convey manifestos)

Letters (on scientific of literary topics)

Novelle letterarie bulletin of new books, in small frame, ordered by the city Strengths and weaknesses

Freedom from constraints of religious authorities

but

(for mathematics) discontinuous level of the contributions, unlike from fixed editorial staff Subjects chosen by the teachers following their ideas

***

The most important mathematician in Pisa, Pietro Paoli, had difficult relationships with editors, and this had a negative effect

Pietro Paoli Giuliano Frullani Pietro Ferroni Vittorio Fossombroni

1761 – 64 Paolo Frisi 1. Élémens du calcul intégral, Le Seur et Jaquier, Parma 1768 (review)

3. Report on Histoire de l’Académie des Sciences

11. Lalande, Reflexions sur les cometes (review)

15. Eloges des académiciens de l’Académie Royale des Sciences morts depuis 1666, jusq’en 1699 , by Condorcet Dissertation on the means to achieve the greatest perfection in glasses and telescopes, by Henner, Berlin

18. Relazione su esperienze fatte con una lente ustoria, comunicata dal sig. Cassini il figlio nel suo passaggio per Pisa

28. Report on Nouvelles expériences sur la résistance des fluides, Condorcet ecc. (anonymous but Fossombroni)

35. Elogio di Newton, by P. Frisi

57. Eloge de M. d’Alembert, by Condorcet

102. Report on Herschel book Greater frequency of articles related to physics and astronomy: regular presence of meteorological observations (birth of meteorology as a science)

***

1782 Memorie di matematica e fisica della Società Italiana

from 1784 Fabroni is charged to write the eulogies of members of the Società; some articles are published in both the journals

Report on the Memorie della Società Italiana from t.52

Memorie: original papers

Giornale: reports, books reviews from foreign countries Nuovo giornale (1802-1809)

Interruption of the first journal after political events

1806 editorial staff in Florence (problems, due to the war)

Ferroni “cooperatore matematico” to reinforce the dissemination of sciences The Società letteraria:

-the Journal “tutti in somma i rami dell’umano sapere, faranno del nostro Giornale una universal Biblioteca di quanto si produce di bello e d’utile in Europa” - publisher • New research books (Elementi , P. Paoli, 3rd ed.) • Translation of important volumes (Legendre, Géometrie; Biot, Arithmétique)

Report on astronomical researches in Germany (24 astronomers looking for a planet between Mars and Jupiter, too distant from each other)

Physical problems, proposed by the Royal Society of Science in Copenhagen

*** 1803 some critical letters: too much attention to foreign activities ***

Rapid changes in the political situation in Tuscany Giornale dell’accademia italiana 1810

Pisa part of the French Empire (Departement of Ombrone)

The Academy is based in Livorno

Members: Scholars of the Kingdom of Italy or related to

Class of “exact and natural sciences”

Two sections: Pure and mixed Mathematics Physics , chemistry, natural history Only one issue

Atti of the Academy

In 1810 it’s called Società (Academy is the name of the higher instruction institution)

Only Italian contributions Antologia

Monthly journal published in Florence by Gian Pietro Viesseux from 1821 to 1831

1819 Project by Gino Capponi for the consultants

Report on some Scientific Societies:

-Società toscana di geografia, statistica e storia naturale patria

-Georgofili

G. Frullani consultant for mathematics (president of the Society for statistics, growing importance of this discipline) September, 1820: Avviso della pubblicazione “Stimando di far cosa grata alle persone colte d'Italia, pubblicherò periodicamente, mediante l'assistenza d'alcuni letterati, una raccolta in lingua italiana dei più interessanti articoli d'ogni genere che si leggono nei giornali ultramontani. Questa raccolta sarà intitolata Antologia ossia Scelta di opuscoli d'ogni letteratura tradotti in italiano”

The aim is "trasportare in Italia, senza averle prima sottoposte alla critica italiana, le produzioni letterarie d'ogni genere, dei francesi, degli inglesi, dei tedeschi, degli spagnoli ecc. e di far conoscere [...] la maniera [...] con cui considerano le nostre produzioni; ed ho pensato che sarebbe cosa utile [...] il riprodurre in lingua italiana gli articoli più piccanti che si leggono negli scritti periodici di queste diverse nazioni".

Translations are prevailing in the first issues, but original papers gradually increase their numbers Reports on scientific activities developed in Italy and abroad

Guglielmo Libri, in from 1825 to 1830:

- Scientific experiments

- 1829 Radici primitive de’ numeri primi; written in Florence after Cauchy’s announcement to the Académie des Sciences about his discovery of a new method to find primitive roots of prime numbers; Libri claims priority 1828, proposal for «Annali italiani delle scienze matematiche fisiche e naturali»

Vieusseux suggested a new journal, after the end of the Giornale di chimica fisica e storia naturale in Pavia, that was the only one to dial with mathematics and physics In his opinion it should have been a quarterly collection devoted only to exact and natural sciences, and he thought that “l’Italia non può più fare a meno”

It should have been stricly linked with the Antologia, allowing it to come back to literature and human sciences

New proposal in 1832

Evidence of the growing importance given to scientific studies, also in periodical press traditionally more devoted to literature

Nuovo Giornale (1822-1839)

The State Secretary allows the publication of a journal of “scienze, lettere ed arti”, but it must be called “Giornale di Pisa”, instead of “Giornale toscano”: the Grand Duchy supports Pisa, against Florence G.Savi director for the scientific section The journal contains research papers by the professors; specialized, with limited audience No educational purpose Introduction, (86 pages) first volume, 1822:

The former journal

“che era sì ben succeduto alle Novelle letterarie del Lami, ed aveva in special modo contribuito ad additare il posto distinto posseduto già dalla Toscana Musa in Italia, come dalla Università di Pisa in Toscana” was forced to end its life due to the

“mancanza di ardor necessario ne’ cooperatori, tumultuose vicende de’ tempi” and it’s going to start in a new form

“Un giornale, raccogliendo le voci scientifiche, e letterarie di una nazione, diviene per così dire uno specchio, in cui tanto ella, quanto le altre nazioni che in lui fissano lo sguardo, possono scorgere la loro scientifica e letteraria fisionomia, onde saremmo tentati a dire che una nazione senza Giornale non ha metodi artificiali per render sé e gli altri consapevoli della sua vera fisionomia.” Introduction: Claim for scientific merits of Tuscany, with a description of scientific discoveries from 1799, main scholars and works.

Mathematics: Paoli, (superintendent) Fossombroni (Humboldt’s application of his theories gave new importance to his Memorie idraulico storiche sulla Val di Chiana) Brunacci Mozzi Ferroni Frullani (employed in the Catasto)

Bimestrial (but it depends on the financial situation)

Divided into parts: I literature and liberal arts II medical sciences, natural, and moral sciences III literary, scientific and bibliographic news (distinct) Antologia and the Giornale interweave their stories: Viesseux invites its authors to send to the second the articles too technical or specialized

1828 proposal to the publisher Nistri to merge the two magazines: the aim is to use the skills of professors in Pisa for a diffusion of scientific knowledge.

On March 26, 1833 with sovereign rescript the Antologia is suppressed, due to Censorship Vieusseux decided to interrupt every editorial program

***

Progressive specialization of magazines in the eighteenth and nineteenth century: the "literate" disappears, emerges a more sectorial competence 1. Review of Riflessioni critiche sul saggio filosofico sulla probabilità del signor Laplace, written by Paolo Ruffini in 1821; Ruffini was first to criticize the mistakes of Laplace on morality and religion

9. 1824 report on the Mémoires de l’Académie des sciences, Paris

10. 1825 separate volumes, literature and siences, bith divided in two sections: articles (original papers and reports) and scientific news

15. Review on Francoeur, Cours de mathématiques pures (translated and commented by Doveri)

38. Report on meetings and congress of national scientific societies: the first one is the Swiss society, whose first Congress was held in Berna in 1816, and following this model in Germany, England, French; announcement of the Congress in Pisa (G.Savi)

39. 1839 “Regolamento generale per le annuali Riunioni Italiane dei cultori delle scienze naturali”; list of the participants to the meeting, signed by the secretary Corridi, report on the activities (chemistry and natural sciences above all). Report on the meeting of the British scientific association in 1839 Riunioni degli scienziati italiani

1839 Pisa 1840 Turin 1841 Florence 1842 Padua 1843 Lucca 1844 Milan 1845 Naples 1846 Genoa 1847 Venice

1861 Florence 1862 Siena After 1840: some scientific journals

Complete reform of the university: new chairs (and new professors)

Il Cimento (giornale di fisica, chimica, e storia naturale)

C. Matteucci and R. Piria

1855 Nuovo Cimento, E. Betti and R.Felici (from 1897 organ of the Società italiana di fisica) The first contribution by O.F. Mossotti

G.Giorgini, superintendent of the University, invited Mossotti (while in Corfu) to send the results of his researches for one of this new scientific journals, the Giornale toscano di scienze mediche, fisiche e naturali, published from 1840 to 1843 and edited by a group of teachers (Mathematics and Physics: Giorgini and Giovan Battista Amici)

Mossotti published there an article on reflection and refraction of light, and the text presented at the third Meeting of Italian Scientists in Florence in 1841 (Optics was the course held in his last year in Corfu) Annali delle università toscane 1846 Directed by Francesco Bonaini, librarian (scienze noologiche) Paolo Savi (cosmological sciences)

This section contains 6 or7 papers in the first numbers, than only 3 or 4

Savi: first proposal

Continuity with Antologia.

Two universities: Pisa and Siena.

1846 Scuola Normale Math, according to the author of the preface, could be placed in both sections of the magazine.

No sections of "literary news" and extracts, nor a bibliography section.

There are some obituaries of teachers.

The professors, even retired, have priority in inserting their jobs, and are consulted before any output (Mossotti, on the first paper of E.Betti).

The memories have often considerable extension (monographs, texts of courses, with appendices, edition of documents). 1. 1846 scienze cosmologiche Carlo Matteucci, Sui fenomeni elettro fisiologici degli animali vivi o recentemente uccisi Mossotti, Sulle proprietà degli spettri formati dai reticoli ed analisi della luce che somministrano

3. 1854 Felici, Teoria dell’induzione elettromagnetica (first professor of physics at the Scuola Normale)

4. (-5.) 1855 Mossotti Nuova teoria degli strumenti ottici (lessons)

7. 1862 E. Betti, Memoria sopra le funzioni algebriche di una variabile complessa

8. 1866 Mossotti, Memoria sulla determinazione delle orbite celesti [unpublished, edited by Donati]

9. 1866 Betti, Sopra la teoria della capillarità Ulisse Dini, Memoria sulle serie a termini positivi [first year of theaching in Pisa] Felici, Esperienze per determinare la legge di oscillazione di un corpo elastico 10. 1868 Betti, Memoria sopra la determinazione delle temperature variabili di un cilindro

11. Dini, Nota sopra alcune formole di trigonometria sferoidica

14. Dini, Memoria sopra la serie di Fourier

16. 1879 E. Micheli, Storia dell’Università di Pisa dal MDCCXXXVII al MDCCCLIX per servire da continuazione all’altra di mons. Fabroni

17. 1880 Dini, Sulla rappresentazione analitica delle funzioni di una variabile reale

***

Remark: some papers by Dini were reprinted as monograph, perhaps a sign of unsatisfactory diffusion 1850 Annali di scienze matematiche e fisiche B. Tortolini, Rome

1858 Annali di matematica pura ed applicata editors: B. Tortolini, E. Betti, F. Brioschi, A. Genocchi Annali della Classe di Scienze della Scuola Normale

Other “side” of the Annali delle università toscane

Contains initially only the final dissertations of the best students of the Scuola Normale, chosen by a commission

Later it will accept papers from former students, reported by a teacher

Non regular publication

Subjects follow the interests of the researchers working in Pisa: Betti, Dini, Eugenio Bertini and Luigi Bianchi.

70 articles (original productions): • 64 Mathematics • 1 Physics • 4 Biology • 1 Chemistry 328 students in the degree and post-degree courses in the Scuola Normale, between 1867 and 1927; only 65 published a paper

Small number, perhaps due to strict criteria

Around 1865 Betti changed the Scuola toward a scientific institution for the advanced research (born to prepare teachers for elementary and intermediate education)

Starting from the last decades of the century, the Annali turned to be a scientific journal of high importance Enrico Betti

The analysis of his scientific correspondence over the years shows a gradual increase in the number of countries involved in scientific relationships:

role played by the Annali (through exchanges with other scholars and libraries).

He built a stable network of scientific relations, that allows his young scholars to undertake regular study abroad during their training.

•Ulisse Dini (Paris, under the guidance of Hermite) •Gregorio Ricci Curbastro (Munich) •Alberto Tonelli (Gottingen) •Luigi Bianchi (Munich and Göttingen, Klein)