ALLE ORIGINI DEL CIMENTO: RETI METEOROLOGICHE E INTELLETTUALI IN TOSCANA ALLA METÀ DEL SEICENTO

The main objective of this thesis is to reconstruct the context in which the Accademia del Cimento arose. The first chapter will therefore retrace the intellectual origins of the group: starting from the study of a peculiar documentary corpus of lists of books and authors, the main philosophical-natural references of the academicians will be identified, as well as their self-perception in the Republic of Letters. The second chapter, on the other hand, is dedicated to the analysis of many documents related to meteorology which importance is fundamental for achieving the underlying objective. Keeping the focus on the figure of Grand Duke Ferdinand II de' Medici, a great connoisseur of the subject, the events of the circle of scholars who gravitated around him will be retraced, as well as the first european meteorological network he founded in 1654. Particular attention will be paid to the historical-political context in which it was born and the modalities of data transmission. Finally, in the third and last chapter we will focus on the observations and theoretical writings on meteorological topics directly referable to the Cimento, thus reknitting the thread between the Accademia and the intellectual and experimental context before it.