Geological time in Veneto: 1680-1796

• Grant number: 10/10320-4
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research
• Start date: September 09, 2010
• End date: April 15, 2011
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - History - History of Science
• Principal Investigator: Nelio Marco Vincenzo Bizzo
• Grantee: Nelio Marco Vincenzo Bizzo
• Host Investigator: Luca Ciancio
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Educação (FE). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Università degli Studi di Verona, Italy

Abstract

Geological sources of 17th-18th century dealt with different trends, involving different degrees of divine intervention in the modeling of relief. In England, the scientific and theological systems of Burnet, Whiston, and Woodward can be taken as references to what would be the criticism of Charles Lyell, who complained about using miracles to explain the shortcomings of misleading explanations which entended to be scientific. After his trip to the continent and in particular to Italy in 1828, Lyell recognized that geology had had great advances, ever since writings of the past, dating more than one century before. These advances had occurred mainly in Italy, where he highlighted the work of Giovanni Arduino, regarded as the father of Italian geology. However, other authors had substantial contributions and are little known, especially in educational settings, as the works of Vallisneri (1721/1727), Spada (1737), Moro (1740), Spallanzani (1758) and the famous epistolary exchange between Alberto Fortis and Domenico Testa (1793), which was translated into English and published in the British Royal Society at the time.This research project seeks to rescue historical sources little used in educational settings, emphasizing the importance of geological debate for the establishment of a secular view of deep time, and is materialized in a period of research with the Università degli Studi di Verona, between September 2010 and April 2011, with the professor Luca Ciancio. (AU)