Dear Ken and,
First let me thank you for your time, enlightening me about Galileo and the
Academies and all.
So, Ken you know why Galileo was accepted, and why he aplied! I'm glad.
Could you tell us your source?
My first problem about this thing is that I found this information (Galileo
accepted at the Academia del Disegno) in a website:
http://brunelleschi.imss.fi.it/ist/luogo/accademiaartidisegno.html
that looks pretty oficial. I've been looking for the fact in lots of
Galileo's biographies and I dind'nt find anything. Of course I found out
about the Lincei. Galileo practically founded the thing. (I spend an
afternoon at the Lincei's Library in 1996. Nice place, difficult for
asmatics though. One of the good things of getting a PhD are Libraries. They
are so often well designed places. I remember with special longing the
Hertziana because it was a house, a palace, built by Federico Zuccari, an
artist of Disegno who managed to get rich enough to do such a delirious
building for himself.)
The "Galilean" Lincei Academy was shut down for more than a century
(1630-1745). When it felt a sleep, Philadelphia didn't existed, and when it
open the eyes again, Ben Franklin had already published 15 years of "The
Poor Richard's Almanac" and Lisbon had been recently destroyed by an
earthquake. When it was refounded the natural sciences academies were at
founding frenzy and, most of all, the concept of Science had changed. The
refounded Lincei Academy become, today, two important italian academies: The
Pontificia and the "national academy". From the inicial Lyncei inherited the
name.
Galileo was a Philosopher and a Mathematician in the days when science meant
solely knowledge (anykind of knowledge). Of course that the Disegno Academy
was a scientific academy since it was devoted and based in a science (a
system of knowledge) called disegno. Even the Florentine Academia degli
Lettere (1530's) pretended to be scientific.
As for the Academia del Disegno emcompassing all practical arts, I must
recal that even the architects were excluded in the early stages of the
Academy in order not to have any confusion with engineering or arts outside
disegno. Remember that the academia was founded by Vasari's inspiration,
"inventor" of schizzo, disciple and admirer of Michelangelo that loathed the
use and abuse of mathematics in the arts. ("the artist must have the compass
in the eye")
So the mystery becomes even bigger:
1. I really don't know if Galileo has been an academic of Disegno. Maybe he
was apointed and never knew about it... But you seem to have found the
information.
2. Galileo was already a Linceo and a Court Prime Philosopher and
Matematician when he suposingly entered so he didn't needed that extra
honour.
3. Was he a Doctor?
4. Was he, by entering, an exception?
Well, must go now,
Thanks, again
Eduardo
PS, Thank you Klaus, also. You could very easily get near Heileen Reeves's
"Painting the Heavens:
Art and Science in the Age of Galileo". Princeton University Press, 1999, i
think and check it out. I mean, if it were for the instruments or for the
methods.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Ken Friedman" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Tuesday, December 05, 2006 7:33 PM
Subject: Re: Philosophy doctors and Designers -- Galileo
> Dear Eduardo,
>
> A few facts about Galileo, scientific communities, and the academies in
> Italy may answer your question.
>
> The Florentine Accademia del Disegno accepted Galileo to membership two
> and a half decades after he was appointed to the chair of philosophy
> (natural science) and mathematics at the University of Pisa in 1589. He
> also held the chair of mathematics in Padua from 1592. In 1610, Cosimo II,
> Grand Duke of Tuscany appointed him as mathematician and philosopher
> (natural scientist) to the principality. Since his appointment in Pisa did
> not require that he teach or even be present, he moved to Florence.
>
> In addition to his work as a scientist and mathematician, Galileo was a
> skilled military and civil engineer, and an instrument maker of the
> greatest renown. In terms of the broad scope of interests of a design
> academy, he would have been well qualified and much of his work --
> especially engineering -- fit within the scope of the academy charter.
>
> But the first scientific academy in Italy -- and some say in the world --
> was founded a century before Galileo's students established the Academia
> del Cimento. This was the Academia Secretorum Naturae in Naples, founded
> by Giambattista della Porta in 1560. Della Porta established his academy
> three years before the Accademia del Disegno was founded in 1563.
>
> Before he joined the Accademia del Disegno, Galileo joined the Accademia
> dei Lincei, a distinguished scientific academy established in 1603.
> Despite some breaks in continuity, the Accademia dei Lincei celebrated its
> fourth century in 2003. It is now Italy's national academy of science.
>
> Galileo constantly sought patronage, connections, and opportunities to
> advance his personal fortune along with his research. The political power
> and patronage relations of the Accademia del Disegno made it a useful
> network for Galileo. This is why he applied for membership.
>
> The academy accepted Galileo because he was Italy's leading scientist and
> engineer, and a major figure in European science. The remit of the
> Accademia del Disegno covered more than art, and the arts in those days
> included most of the mechanical arts that we call engineering today, as
> well as covering some areas of mathematics as well as some forms of
> applied and theoretical physics. Galileo's achievements made him
> extraordinarily valuable as a member of the academy.
>
> This would explain why he applied and why they accepted him.
>
> Yours,
>
> Ken
>
> --
>
> Eduardo Corte-Real wrote:
>
> Dear All,
>
> Does any one know why the Florentine Academia del Disegno admited Galileo
> as an academic in 1613?
> I mean, besides the fact that he aplied and that he was accepted. And even
> besides the fact that the first Scientific Academy (Academia del Cimento)
> the world was founded only a few years later in 1657?
> I mean, Why did he applied?
> Why was he accepted?
> I really don't know.
> Help, anyone?
>
> Eduardo
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