Natura Incognita

New Perspectives in the History of Science

Claudia Addabbo, Alessandra Passariello, Valentina Vignieri, Denise Vincenti (Herausgeber)

Buch | Hardcover

XXII, 377 Seiten

2026
Springer International Publishing (Verlag)
978-3-032-12445-6 (ISBN)

Infos

Natura incognita explores the theme of the unknown nature, offering an interdisciplinary perspective that bridges the history of science with other fields of enquiry, such as the history of philosophy, museology, environmental and animal studies.
Far from exhaustive yet remarkably rich, the volume brings a collection of previously unpublished contributions by early-career scholars that together provide an overview of current research trends in the Italian history of science community. The essays employ diverse methodologies, all rooted in a careful analysis of textual, archival, material, and visual sources from which local and global stories of science emerge. These contributions were originally presented at the Early Career Conference of the Italian Society for the History of Science (Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn Naples, September 6 8, 2023), and cover a wide range of scientific fields, from botany to zoology, medicine to mental sciences, physics to earth sciences, with a particular focus on the tools and techniques used in the study of nature. The timeframe is broad, taking the reader on a journey from antiquity through the early modern era and well into the 20th century. Overall, the book highlights how the production of new scientific knowledge and practices results from a sustained, long-standing interest in the natural world.
Scholars and students interested in the evolving landscape of the history of science will find this reading an illuminating resource.

Autor

Claudia Addabbo is a research fellow in History of Science at the University of Padua,  with a project on the Italian botanist Achille Forti (1878 1937) and his algological collections housed at the Botanical Museum of Padua. Her research interests include the history of botany, women botanists, natural history collections, intersections between botany and art, and the history of scientific and botanical photography.
Alessandra Passariello is a historian of science, with a PhD in Philosophy and a strong interest in contemporary life sciences and their impact on society. Her research interests lie at the intersection of the history of marine ecology, marine environmental history, and international scientific cooperation for the monitoring and protection of the  Mediterranean Sea. She is currently working in the Historical Archives and Marine Library of the Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn of Naples (Italy), where she is in charge of promoting the institute s historical heritage.
Valentina Vignieri is a documentalist at the Museo Galileo Istituto e Museo di Storia della Scienza in Florence. She holds a PhD from the University of Durham (UK) and her research interests lie in the history of science during the early modern period, with a particular focus on natural philosophy and astronomy.
Denise Vincenti is a tenure-track assistant professor (Rtd-B) in History of Philosophy at the University of Perugia. Her research mainly focuses on the interplays between philosophy and psychology in the late 19th-early 20th centuries, with a specific interest in topics such as habit, emotion, unconscious, madness, hallucination, and hypnotism.

Inhalt

Preface.- Part I - Histories behind Objects: A Material Perspective in the History of Science.-Rosa Caiazzo, "Roses of Paestum and their Medicinal Uses.- Mathieu Harsch, "What Kind of Knowledge did Medieval Dyers have of the Chemical Principles of Woad Vat?.- Daniele Ognibene (Alma Mater Studiorum-Università di Bologna), "A Flavor Mystery: Ginger Varieties, Preservation Techniques, and Cultural Implications (14th-20th Centuries).- Claudia Addabbo, Luca Tonetti, "Gall Anatomy Revealed: The Collaboration between Achille Forti and Alessandro Trotter through the Collections of the Botanical Museum of Padua.-Alessandra Passariello, Andrea Travaglini, "From Dubrovnik to Naples: The Unexpected Story of Some Preserved Siphonophores by Tomo Gamulin.-Davide Pietrini, "Scales as Challenging Objects: From the Theory of Proportions to the Quantitative Interpretation of Mechanical Phenomena.- Part II - The Normal and the Pathological Mind: Historical Perspectives in the Mind Sciences.- Mattia Mantovani (KU Leuven), "The Bestiary of the Senses: Descartes and the Rise of Ecology.- 8. Leonardo Capanni, "Setting the Stage for Synesthesia: Image as Hallucination and Mind as Reducer in the Work of Hippolyte Taine (1845 1870).- 9. Denise Vincenti, "Mysterious Perceiving: Théodule Ribot and the Role of the Sixth Sense in Perception.-10. Vanessa Sabbatini, "The Main Therapies Adopted in the Ancona Provincial Asylum between the 19th and 20th Centuries".Part III - The Evolution of Medical Thought: New Concepts, Tools and Techniques .- 11. Stefano Mulas, "From the Visible to the Invisible: Practices of Healing among Paracelsus, Thurneysser, and Don Antonio de Medici".- 12. Elena Danieli, "Iron Hands: Forceps and The Changing Profession of 18th-Century Obstetricians".-13. Francesca Ricci (Università degli Studi di Bari Aldo Moro ), The Human Nature through the Flesh: Efisio Marini and his Eternal Dead.-14. Marco Emanuele Omes, "The Revaccination Dilemma: Debates on the Nature of Contagion in Nineteenth-Century Italy".-15. Giacomo Simoncelli, "Influenza Statistics and the Evolution of the ICD".-Part IV - From Local Spaces of Knowledge to Global Theories.-16. Daniele Musumeci, "Scientific Paradigms and Complexity in Modern Geology and Volcanology: The Case of William Hamilton (1730-1803)".-17. Morgana Lisi, "Linnean Botany on Trial: Over the Reception (and Rejection) of the Classification System in the Iberian World (1762-1809).-18. Fabio Frisino, " Paragrêle to Paragrandine : An Apulian Case in the Italian Context".-19. Zoe Lauri, "From Local to National Knowledge: Rediscovering Italian Flora after 1861".-20. Virginia Pansini, "Southern Italy: Nature, Science and Productive Activities in Sant Agata di Puglia".-Part V - Corals, Plants, and Gardens: Botanical Histories from the 16th to the 19th Century.- 21. Valentina Vignieri, Marta Stefani, "The Granadilla: Tracing its History throug the Mexican Treasure".-22. Sara Garvani, "Luigi Ferdinando Marsili and the True Nature of Coral".-23. Francesco Vezzani, "Spreading Nature: The Society for the Advancement of Gardening in Padua (1845-1868)".-24. Antonio Danese, "Darwin s Flank Movements".

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 23.2.2026
• Reihe/Serie: Trends in the History of Science
• Zusatzinfo: XXII, 377 p. 54 illus., 42 illus. in color.
• Verlagsort: Cham
• Sprache: englisch
• Maße: 155 x 235 mm
• Themenwelt: Geisteswissenschaften ► Geschichte
• Themenwelt: Mathematik / Informatik ► Mathematik ► Allgemeines / Lexika
• Themenwelt: Mathematik / Informatik ► Mathematik ► Geschichte der Mathematik
• Themenwelt: Naturwissenschaften
• Schlagworte: History and philosophy of mind and perception • History of material and visual culture • history of natural sciences • History of Science • Trends in historiography
• ISBN-10: 3-032-12445-X / 303212445X
• ISBN-13: 978-3-032-12445-6 / 9783032124456
• Zustand: Neuware