Forewords Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone 9 Cardinal 11 Mariastella Gelmini 15 Tommaso Maccacaro 17 Jose G. Funes, S.J. 19 Antonio Paolucci 21

Astrum 2009 22 lleana Chinnici The Instruments of Astronomy Prior to the Telescope 26 Giorgio Strano Galileo's Telescopes 32 Giorgio Strano Italian Optics in the 17th Century: Fontana, Divini and Campani 38 Paolo Del Santo The First Italian Institutional Observatories 46 Valeria Zanini Astrometry and Celestial Cartography 54 lleana Chinnici The Carte du del and the Founding of the Vatican Observatory 62 Sabino Maffeo, S.J. The Origins of Astrophysics 70 Marinella Calisi 'Travelling' Instruments: the Equipment of Scientific Expeditions 76 lleana Chinnici The Total Eclipse of the Sun on December 22, 1870: 78 the First Scientific Expedition of the New Luisa Pigatto The Transit of Venus across the Sun in 1874 82 Valeria Zanini The Papal Expedition to to Observe the Eclipse of the Sun on August 19,1887 86 Sabino Maffeo, S.J. The De Filippi Expedition to Himalaya and Karakoram in 1913-1914 90 Antonella Gasperini, Massimo Mazzoni Italian Astronomy between World Wars I and II 94 Luisa Pigatto Astronomy and Astrophysics in Italy Today 100 Oscar Straniero Astronomy in the Vatican Today 106 Jose G. Funes, S.J. Not Astronomy Alone 108 Paolo Brenni Paper Instruments: the Libraries and Historical Archives 116 of Italian Astronomical Observatories Antonella Gasperini, Agnese Mandrino CATALOGUE 120

1. THE INSTRUMENTS OF ASTRONOMY PRIOR TO THE TELESCOPE 123 edited by Giorgio Strano 1.1. THE WORLD SYSTEMS 134 edited by Giorgio Strano

2. GALILEO'S TELESCOPES 143 edited by Giorgio Strano

3. ITALIAN OPTICS IN THE 17™ CENTURY: FONTANA, DIVINI AND CAMPANI 153 edited by Paolo Del Santo

4. THE FIRST ITALIAN INSTITUTIONAL OBSERVATORIES 171 edited by Valeria Zanini

5. ASTROMETRY AND CELESTIAL CARTOGRAPHY 179 edited by lleana Chinnici 5.1 The Carte du del and the Founding 192 of the Vatican Observatory edited by Sabino Maffeo, S.J.

6. THE ORIGINS OF ASTROPHYSICS 197 edited by Marinella Calisi 6.1.1 The Total Eclipse of the Sun on December 22, 1870: 206 the First Scientific Expedition of the New Kingdom of Italy edited by Luisa Pigatto

6.1.2 The Transit of Venus across the Sun in 1874 210 edited by Valeria Zanini 6.1.3 The Papal Expedition to Russia 214 to Observe the Eclipse of the Sun on August 19, 1887 edited by Sabino Maffeo, S.J.

6.1.4 The De Filippi Expedition to Himalaya and Karakoram in 1913-1914 216 edited by Antonella Gasperini, Massimo Mazzoni

E. NOT ASTRONOMY ALONE 223 edited by Paolo Brenni

Bibliography 236