The Rise and Fall of Vito Volterra's World
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 4456372 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Judith R Goodstein, Judith Goodstein (corresponding author) |
| Year | 1984 |
| Volume | 45 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 607 |
| Publication date | 1984-10-01 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of the History of Ideas (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0022-5037 • E-ISSN: 1086-3222 |
| Publisher | JSTOR (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.2307/2709376 |
| OpenAlex | W2335254884 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 4 |
From around the turn of the century until Benito Mussolini became dictator in 1925, mathematics was Italy's premier scientific discipline.1 A close-knit circle of mathematicians, in turn, dominated science in Italy. The circle, all university professors, included Guido Castelnuovo (1865-1952), Federigo Enriques (18711946), Tullio Levi-Civita (1873-1941), and Vito Volterra (1860-1940). All were Jewish. The group enjoyed a tradition, a sense of cohesiveness, and an international reputation. Their interests extended to different fields, in addition to mathematics. Enriques, along with his duties as a mathematician, wrote extensively on the philosophy and history of science, founded and co-edited the journal Scientia, and arranged for Einstein's celebrated trip to Italy after World War I. Levi-Civita's taste in mathematical problems ranged from the pure to the applied, with a special interest in the general theory of relativity. Castelnuovo, for his part, spent considerable time building up a school of mathematics at the University of Rome. Levi-Civita, originally at Padua, was called to Rome in 1918; Enriques followed from Bologna in 1923. By then, Rome had become a mecca for bright young mathematicians from abroad.2 Rome became the capital of the newly-created state of Italy in 1870. Under the leadership of Quintino Sella (1827-1884), a mathematician at the University of Turin who exchanged academic life for a ministerial post in the new government, Rome's scientific halls came to life again. With the help of the new Commissioner for Public Instruction, also a mathematician, Sella brought the cream of Italy's scientific faculty to Rome and transformed the capital's historic
Economic history · Economics · Humanities · Political science · History and Theory of Mathematics · Italian Fascism and Post-war Society · Italian Literature and Culture · Philosophy
| Citations per year | 0.13 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 1996 - 2015 (20) |
| Highly cited | No |