VACCARI EZIO

Ezio VACCARI - Full Professor of History of Science and Technology,
Department of Theoretical and Applied Sciences, University of Insubria, Varese (Italy)

BIOGRAPHY
Ezio Vaccari was born in Verona in 1962. He graduated in Letters at the University of Florence in 1989 and obtained a Ph.D. in History of Science from the University of Bari in 1996.
Between 1990 and 1998 he was awarded with research fellowships in Germany (Universität Rostock and Bergakademie Freiberg), Ireland (Trinity College, Dublin), Austria (Geologische Bundesanstalt, Wien) and France (Cité des Sciences et de l'Industrie - CNRS, Paris).
In 1996-97 he was appointed 'Resident Fellow' for one year at the Dibner Institute for the History of Science and Technology (MIT, Cambridge, Mass., USA).
From 1998 to 2001 he worked as researcher at the “Center of Study on the History of the Techniques” of the CNR (Italian National Research Council) in Genoa (Italy).
In 2001 he was appointed Associate Professor and in 2006 Full Professor in History of Science and Technology at the School of Sciences of the University of Insubria, Varese (Italy).
During the last twenty-nine years he has attended more than 100 symposia, conferences and workshops in several European countries, as well as in the USA, Canada, Japan, China, Australia, Armenia, Brasil, Morocco and Mexico, with papers and posters on the history of geological sciences (mainly in the 18th and in the 19th century), presented in English, French and Italian.
He was a member of the Programme Committee of the International Symposium “Abraham Gottlob Werner (1749-1817) and his times”, organized by the Mining Academy of Freiberg (Germany) and by the International Commission on the History of Geological Sciences (INHIGEO) in Freiberg in 1999. In 2004 he organized with Nicoletta Morello (University of Genoa), the international INHIGEO Fieldtrip “Italian Institutions and Geological Sites in the History of the Geosciences” in central and northern Italy), which followed the 32nd International Geological Congress in Florence. He was also member of the scientific international committees of the International Erbe Symposia on cultural heritage in geosciences, archaeology, mining and metallurgy, in Québec (Canada, 2007) and Freiberg (Germany, 2009), as well as member of the scientific program committee of the 9th Congress of mining and metallurgical history in the European SW (Madrid, Spain, 2016), member of the scientific committees of the 46th and 47th INHIGEO Symposia (online 2021, France 2022, Poland 2023).

Since 1989 he has attended more than 160 symposia, conferences and workshops in several European countries (Italy, Austria France, Germany, Switzerland, United Kingdom, Ireland, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Poland, Hungary, Greece), as well as in the USA, Canada, Japan, China, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, Armenia, Brasil, Thailand, India, Morocco, and Mexico, with papers and posters on the history of geological sciences (mainly in the 18th and in the 19th century), presented in English, French and Italian.

He has published 2 books, 3 volumes of primary sources and 133 papers, mainly on history of geology. He also edited 2 conference proceedings.

ACADEMIC APPOINTMENTS
- Professor of History of Science and Technology (associate professor 2001-2006; full professor from 2006 to date) at the University of Insubria.
- Director of the research Center for the History of the Mountains, Material Culture and Earth Sciences of the University of Insubria (2012 to date).
- Member of the Senate (Senato Accademico) of the University of Insubria (2021-2024).
- Member of the scientific council of the international research Center "Centro Internazionale Insubrico Cattaneo – Preti" on philosophy, epistemology, cognitive sciences, history of science and technology, at the University of Insubria (2010 to date).
- Member of the scientific council of the research Center "Mass Media e Società: storia e critica dell'opinione pubblica" (Mass-media and society) of the University of Insubria (2016 to date).
- Member of the scientific council of the "International Study Centre for Smart Organization Management and Smart Territory Valorization" of the University of Insubria (2017 to date).
- Member of the scientific council of the "International Research Center of Local Histories and Cultural Diversities" of the University of Insubria (2011 - 2017).
- Professor in charge of the CampusOne project for the University of Insubria (2003 -2004).
- Delegate for Didactics of the Provost of the University of Insubria (from 2004 to 2018).
- Member of the faculty of the Ph.D. program "Diritto e Scienze Umane" (Law and Humanities) of the University of Insubria (2013-2020).
- Director of the Department of Theoretical and Applied Sciences, University of Insubria (2013-2015).
- Coordinator of the Quality Assurance Board of the University of Insubria (2013 -2019).
- Member of the Jury d'HDR (Epistémologie et Histoire des Sciences) of Pierre Savaton. Université de Nantes, 11 December 2014.
- Tutor of Ph.D students in History of Science at the University of Bari, Italy (2005-2012).
- Member of the Jury for Ph.D. thesis in History of Science (University of Bari, Italy, 2004), History of Science (University of Pisa, Italy and Université Pierre-Mendès-France. Grenoble, France, 2015), Law and Humanities (University of Insubria, Italy, 2017) and History (Université Grenoble Alpes, 2018).

AWARDS AND SCIENTIFIC APPOINTMENTS
- 2020 Mary C. Rabbitt History and Philosophy of Geology Award of the Geological Society of America (GSA).
- President (2020-2028) of the International Commission on the History of Geological Sciences – INHIGEO of the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS) and affiliated to the International Union of History and Philosophy of Science and Technology / Division of History of Science and Technology (IUHPST/DHST)
- President of the Italian Society for the History of Science - SISS (2018-2020).
- Chair of the Scientific and Organizing Committee of the 44° INHIGEO Symposium (Varese - Como, September 2019)
- Chair of the Scientific Committee of the 9° Conference of the European Society for the History of Science ESHS (Bologna / on-line, September 2020)
- Chair of the Scientific and Organizing Committee of the second national meeting of the the Italian Society of History of Science - SISS (Catania, on-line, November 2020)
- Vice President Europe (2016-2020) and Member for Italy (1992-to date) of the International Commission on the History of Geological Sciences – INHIGEO.
- Member of the Comité français d'Histoire de la Géologie – COFRHIGEO (1992-to date).
- Councillor and later member of the Nominating Committee of the History of the Earth Sciences Society (1999-2003).
- Member of the board of directors and steering committee of the Fondazione Visconti di San Vito of Somma Lombardo, Varese, Italy (2014 to date).
- Member of the board of directors and president of the scientific council of the Fondazione Domenico Morino of Castelletto sopra Ticino, Novara, Italy (2008-2012).
- Member of the council of the Section on History of the Geosciences of the Società Geologica Italiana (2022 to date).
- Voting Member for Italy of the Subcommission on Sites of the International Commission on Geoheritage of the International Union of Geological Sciences (2022 to date).
- Director of the 'Centro di documentazione e di ricerca sulla cultura materiale e sulla storia delle tecniche' of the Fondazione Domenico Morino, Castelletto sopra Ticino, Novara, Italy (2008-2012).
- Member of the National Commission on the "Museo Etnografico della Montagna" of the National Institute for the Scientific and Technological Research on the Mountain, Rome (2002-2006).
- Member of the Accademia di Agricoltura, Scienze e Lettere of Verona, Italy (2004-2014).
- Member of the Istituto di Studi Superiori dell'Insubria "Gerolamo Cardano", Italy (2004-to date).
- Associate Editor of the international journal "Earth Sciences History"(2001-2011).
- Director of the interdisciplinary series on communication and science "i-poliedri", published by Mimesis Edizioni, Italy (2013-to date).
- Member of the editorial board of the international series "Studies in the History and Philosophy of the Earth Sciences", Athlone Press, London, U.K. (1996).
- Member of the Advisory Board of Sciences of the Earth. An Encyclopedia of Events, People, and Phenomena, edited by G.A. Good, New York & London, Garland Publishing (1998).
- Member of the scientific committee of the journal "De Re Metallica" (2008-to date).
- Member of the scientific committee of the journal and "Il Protagora" (2010-to date).
- Member of the scientific committee of the journal and "Scientia" (2023-to date).
- Member of the scientific committee of the historical series "Passato Prossimo", published by Oltre Edizioni, Italy (2014-to date).
- Member of the scientific committee of the on-line series "Europa e Mediterraneo" published by the Istituto di Storia dell'Europa Mediterranea del Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche - CNR, Italy (2012-to date).
- Member of the scientific committee of the on-line journal "Viaggiatori" (2017-2020).
- Member of the review committee of the journal "Cahiers François Viète" (2016-2018).
- Member of the scientific committee of the international journal "Physis. Rivista Internazionale di Storia della Scienza" (2020-to date).
- Member of the scientific committee of the journal "Scientia. Rivista della Società Italiana di Storia della Scienza" (2023-to date)

GRANTS
- A two month scholarship at University of Rostock and Bergakademie Freiberg, Germany (September – October 1990).
- A six month scholarship at Trinity College Dublin, Ireland (January-June 1991).
- Resident Fellow in the Dibner Institute for the History of Science and Technology, Cambridge, U.S.A. (August 1996 - July 1997).
- A four month scholarship at the Geological Survey of Austria, Vienna (October 1997-January 1998).
- Visiting Fellow at the CRHST - Centre de Recherche en Histoire des Sciences et des Techniques, Cité des Sciences et de l’Industrie, Paris, France (March - July 1998).
- Visiting Professor at the Départment d’Études Italiennes, Université Bordeaux III – Michel de Montaigne, France (April 2009).
- Visiting Professor at the École Doctorale Montaigne Humanités, University of Bordeaux III – Michel de Montaigne, France (March 2013).
- IDEX Invited Scholar at the Laboratoire SPH (Sciences, Philosophie, Humanités) at the University of Bordeaux and Bordeaux Montaigne, France (February-April 2016).

TEACHING EXPERIENCE
2000-2001: “Laboratory for the teaching of history” in the School for Secondary School Teachers of the University of Genoa
2002-04: Lectures within the masters courses in Scientific Communication (Universities of Milan; University of Naples); seminars at the Ph.D. course in History of Science (University of Bari)
2003: Course for the degree in Palaeobiology and History of Life, within the Faculty of Sciences, University of Milan - History of Earth Sciences
From 2002 to 2012: Courses for the degree course of Analysis and Management of Natural Resources, within the School of Sciences (Varese), University of Insubria:
- History of Mountains
- History of Natural Sciences
From 2002 to 2019: Courses for the degree courses of Communication Sciences within the School of Sciences (Varese) and then Department of Theoretical and Applied Sciences, University of Insubria:
- History of Science and Technology
- Scientific Museology
- Scientific Communication
- Society, media and modern sciences
- History of Mountains
From 2018 to date: courses for the degree course of Histories and Stories of Contemporary World and Environmental Sciences, Department of Theoretical and Applied Sciences, University of Insubria:
- Histories of Sciences and Modern Technologies
- History of Historiography
- History of Mountains

RESEARCH INTERESTS
- history of Earth sciences and history of natural sciences with particular emphasis on the relationships between geology, mineralogy and mining from the 16th to 19th century.
- historical development of technical and scientific communication, with particular attention to the development of popular science in Italy and Europe during the 19th century.
- history of geological and naturalistic researches based on the study and the exploitation of alpine and prealpine regions, with particular emphasis on the reconstruction of the scientific itineraries in the field.
- analysis of the role of the institutions (universities, museums, academies, scientific societies etc.) in the development of the natural and geological sciences in Italy in the 18th and 19th centuries.
- the development of lithology and stratigraphy in 18th century Italy and Europe through the study of the 'classifications' of mountains, the ‘theories of the Earth” and the early geological fieldwork .
- the different ways of diffusion of geo-mineralogical theories and mining techniques between the 18th and 19th centuries, with particular attention to the teaching in the mining schools and academies, as well as to the role of periodicals, correspondences, collections, cartography, instructions for travellers and other forms of scientific communication.
- history of the Austrian-Italian relationships in the field of 19th century geology and Earth sciences, with particular emphasis on the making of the first geological maps of Northern Italy by the geologists of the Geologische Reichsanstalt of Vienna.
- recognition of the existence of valuable collections and archives for the history of science and technology in the territory of Insubria, in order to promote scientific studies and organize projects of revaluation with the support of multimedial tools as well as information and communication technologies.

RESEARCH PROJECTS FUNDED
- Director of research "Travels and biographies. Scientists in the mountains from 15th to 19th century" of the national project "Anguana - Museo dell'Uomo e della Montagna", funded by Istituto Nazionale della Montagna and by Ministero dell'Istruzione, Università e Ricerca, Italy (2004-2006)
- Director of the project “Toward a museum of the material culture of the Prealps” funded by Comune di Brinzio, Varese, Italy (2007-2010).
- Director of the project "Material culture and enhancement of the territory", funded by Comune di Castelletto Sopra Ticino, Novara, Italy (2008-2010).
- Scientific Responsable of the research unit at the University of Insubria (“Geological travels in the mountain areas of northern Italy: fieldwork and stratigraphy in the 18th century”) within the national project PRIN 2007 “Galileian tradition and naturalistic experimentalism in the early modern age" (2008-2010).
- Director of the project "Historical-scientific contents for the website of the Comunita Montana del Piambello", funded by Comunità Montana del Piambello, Varese , Italy (2010-2012).
- Director of the project "Toward a Museum of the local agriculture and traditions", funded by Provincia di Varese, Italy (2011-14).
- Director of the project "Historical-geological contents for the website of the UNESCO paleontological site Monte S. Giorgio", funded by Comunità Montana del Piambello, Varese, Italy (2014-16).
- Scientific Responsable of the research unit at the University of Insubria within the Italian national project PRIN 2017 “Material and visual cultures of science: a longue durée perspective" (2020-2023).
- Principal Investigator of the research project "Smart Villages & Citizen Science: from territorial digitization to innovative forms of public use of the historical heritage of a mountain community in the Lombard Prealps (DiGiTHist)", funded by CARIPLO Foundation (2021-2023)
- Principal Investigator of the Italian national project PRIN 2022 "Communicating and Representing the Earth: Structures and Phenomena in the Italian Context (17th - 19th century)" (2023-2026)