Gli Strumenti Scientifici di Interesse Storico di tre antiche Scuole Medie Superiori di Bergamo ("Lussana", "Vittorio Emanuele", e "Quarenghi")

TL;DR

This paper catalogs and describes historical scientific instruments from three high schools in Bergamo, Italy, including photographs and explanations, aiming to promote awareness and similar research elsewhere.

Contribution

It provides a detailed catalog of antique physics instruments from three Italian high schools, including descriptions and images, a novel effort in documenting local educational heritage.

Findings

Cataloged 187 instruments across three schools.

Included detailed descriptions and photographs of each instrument.

Aimed to stimulate similar heritage documentation efforts.

Abstract

Wherever old Universities exist [in Europe, for example: Italy being not the last one], there can be found Scientific Instruments of Historical Interest, e.g., for Physics -which is the case we are concerned with here;- even if proper attention has been paid to such an exceptional heritage only during the last half a century. [We studied ourselves the material existing at the University of Catania, Catania, Italy, almost 600 years old]. However, even where ancient universities do not exist, a lot of Historical Scientific Instruments are often owned by the local Senior High Schools. By the present "small book" we want to make known the antique physics instruments that are in possession of three Senior High Schools of Bergamo, Italy: the "Istituto Tecnico Vittorio Emanuele", the "Liceo Scientifico Lussana", and the "Istituto per Geometri Quarenghi". Namely, we catalogue and describe: 61 instruments of the "Vittorio Emanuele" (52 of the second half of the XIX century, and 9 of the first half of the XX century); 100 instruments of the "Lussana" (belonging essentially to the first half of the XX century); and 26 instruments, mainly topographical in this case, of the "Quarenghi" (8 of the second half of the XIX century, and 16 of the first half of the XX century); without forgetting to add suitable explanations about their functioning. Our aim will be reached if we happen to stimulate other colleagues to perform similar work in their towns. The present small book is in Italian, but it contains fifty-one (51) self-explanatory photographs in color, and nineteen (19) black-and-white sketches. Actually, we can put in the Archives this small book, instead of others, also because -with the help of the typesetter- we eventually suceeded in reducing its whole size to less than 1 M-b.