The Italian Genius on Display

Francesco Barreca, Ph.D. (University of Pisa, 2012) is research fellow at the Università Statale di Milano. He has published monographs and articles on the history of early modern science and on the history of scientific institutions. His latest monograph is La scienza che fu. Idee e strumenti di teorie abbandonate (Editrice Bibliografica, 2017).

Preface XI


AcknowledgementsIX


List of IllustrationsX


List of ChartsII


AbbreviationsII





part 1: The Exhibition in Context


1 To Protect and to Promote


 1 The Italian Scientific Heritage at the Turn of the Century


 2 Universities, Museums, and the History of Science


 3 Bringing History of Science to the People: Exhibitions and Commemorations





2 From Local to National


 1 The Rise of Fascism


 2 The National Scientific Heritage Protection Group


 3 The Galilean Tradition and the Florentine Primacy


 4 The Institute of the History of Science in Florence


 5 Aldo Mieli and the National Institute of History of Science in Rome





3 Setting up the Exhibition


 1 From a Tuscan Exposition to the National Exhibition


 2 Funding and Financing


 3 Location


 4 Exhibition Criteria and Local Committees





4 The Exhibition in Context


 1 History of Science and Propaganda: The Italian Genius and the National Scientific Primacy


 2 History of Science and Ideology: The Italian Scientific Contributions throughout History


 3 History of Science and the Public: Visitors at the Exhibition


 4 History of Science and Entertainment: Music, Cinema, and Spectacles at the Exhibition





5 The National Museum of History of Science


 1 From the Exhibition to the National Museum


 2 Administration and Financing


 3 Location and Collections


 4 Visitors





6 Indexing the Italian Scientific Heritage


 1 A Definitive Inventory


 2 The Original Plan


 3 The Revised Plan


 4 Editorial Troubles


 5 The End of the Project and the Catalogue of 1952





part 2: Plates


The Exhibition in Detail





7 The Exhibition in Detail


 1 Ground Floor I


 2 Ground Floor II


 3 Ground Floor III


 4 Ground Floor IV


 5 Basement


 6 Pavilions





Conclusion


 Bibliography


 Name Index