Progetto PRIN 2017 “Material and Visual Culture of Science: A longue durée Perspective”
Principal Investigator: prof. Marco Beretta (Università di Bologna)
Unità di ricerca : Insubria
Responsabile Scientifico (Associated Investigator): prof. Ezio Vaccari
The aim of the research project is to investigate the development of different ‘images’ of natural environment from the 16th to the 20th century, through the identification of specific ‘visual objects’ and iconographical models or styles.
The research activities will cover the following main topics:
- the early naturalistic and mineralogical studies, with a significant impact on visual language and references to the material culture, as in the case of mining and metallurgical techniques within the machine books called Theatrum machinarum (16th - 17th centuries);
- the establishment of a visual language in the new natural sciences of geology, botany and zoology between 18th century and 19th century (objects, methods and tools for fieldwork);
- the extent of a new literature of popular science in the 19th and 20th centuries, which significantly reached a great number of readers and also created a new audience for naturalistic subjects related in particular to the history of the Earth, also through the development of a specific iconography on the natural environment and landscape of the past;
- the visual concept of natural ‘environment’ in the ecological thought and in the media during the second half of the 20th century;
The research, which will also concern the history of modern scientific communication, will be focused mainly on European context and sources (printed, unpublished, iconographic).
Among the research topics, the contributions to the popularization of natural sciences will be considered with particular reference to the establishment of a new concept of natural environment: an environment with a very long history (shown by the recognition of several geological changes and by the discovery of the "deep time"), extraordinary and powerful natural phenomena (discovered by studies in volcanology and hydrology), a great variety in the development of life (demonstrated by new research works in paleontology, botany, zoology), a significant richness in subterranean resources (described by mineralogy and mining studies). This new extended concept of natural environment comes from a new kind of scientific knowledge based on books and periodicals of 'popular science', which adopted specific narrative styles and visual languages.
The impact of this literature in the late 19th century society will be analysed in a specific research activity (assegno di ricerca / research grant) in order to understand how the public image of a natural environment within a society which firmly believed in the technological and scientific progress, later changed during the 20th century, when it became part of an 'ecological' vision opposed to the industrial development.
The research will be also focused on the relationship between the concept of 'positive' science and the discovery of the marvels or wonders of nature, which influenced the interest of the general public for the natural environment and the 'beauty' of its landscapes. The research project will be undertaken with a strong interdisciplinary approach, which will involve Earth and natural sciences (geology and ecology in particular), history, literature, sociology and philosophy, as well as media studies.