The Development of Agricultural Science in Northern Italy in the Late Eighteenth and Early Nineteenth Century

Description

The late eighteenth century and subsequent Napoleonic Era witnessed a turning point in the establishment of agricultural science as a well-defined discipline in northern Italy. In this book, Martino Lorenzo Fagnani traces these developments by reviewing the correspondence of naturalists and agriculturists as well as the research plans of universities, academies, societies, institutes, and governments. He explores the establishment of a broad knowledge network encompassing all of Europe while also investigating the reasons behind the exchange of seeds, the establishment of spaces for experimentation such as scientific gardens and experimental fields, and the organization of specialized journals and monographs. This work represents an important contribution to the historiography of Italian agricultural science, filling a significant gap in our knowledge of related developments. Acknowledgments Chronological Table of the Main Political and Institutional Events Referenced in the Book Contents Abbreviations Archives Texts List of Figures List of Tables 1 Introduction 1.1 State of the Art 1.2 Structure of the Book Notes 2 Institutions and State Policies 2.1 Scientific and Institutional Framework 2.2 Dissertations, Journals, and Monographs 2.3 The Academy of Mantua: Innovation, Difficulty, and Resilience Notes 3 Knowledge Network 3.1 Allochthonous Plants, a Controversial Resource 3.2 Contacts with France: André Thouin and the Paris Botanical Garden 3.3 Contacts with Spain: The Cavanilles-Nocca-Re Network Notes 4 Experimentation 4.1 Experimentation Spaces 4.2 Cereal Growing 4.3 Oil and Sugar Notes 5 Didactics 5.1 Training Paths of Professional Agriculturists 5.2 The Organization of University Agricultural Courses 5.3 Looking at the European Restoration Notes 6 Conclusions Notes Bibliography Index