The Accademia del Cimento: New Perspectives

Scientific academies are undoubtedly a great institutional novelty of the second half of the
17th century. Even though their history has been well explored, the Accademia del Cimento still remains a desideratum for the history of science, since it is neither correctly studied nor thoroughly and carefully explored. Founded in 1657 by Leopoldo of Tuscany the Accadema del Cimento was the first academy that existed in early modern period. It had a strangely short lifetime and a rather rapid development (1657–1667). The only publication availiable of the Academia del Cimento remains a single volume (Saggi di Naturali Esperienze, 1667) which comprises only a few of the experiments performed by their members. A novel, more careful and attentive investigation of the Cimento Academy is in order, an investigation that aims at revising deeply, if not subverting, what might be called the received vista of the nature, aims and scope of the Italian academy. In particular such an investigation cannot ignore a comparison between the Cimento and other scientific societies in Europe at that time nor the relations that the members of the Cimento academy maintained with the members of other scientific societies in Europe.