Francesco Algarotti explains Newton’s prism experiment to Ladies

Authors

  • Paola Magnaghi-Delfino Department of Mathematics, Politecnico di Milano, Milan, Italy
  • Giampiero Mele Università degli Studi eCampus, Novedrate (CO), Italy
  • Tullia Norando Department of Mathematics, Politecnico di Milano, Milan, Italy

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.23738/CCSJ.120204

Keywords:

Optics, Colour, Enlightenment, Algarotti

Abstract

In the 18th century, a “new science” flowed in Europe. One of the primary elements of Enlightenment was the rise of the public sphere excluding women and lower classes. Les Philosophes introduced the public to many scientific theories, in particular Newtonianism by Voltaire and Émilie du Châtelet. Some works are more formal, but the popular works were written in a discursive style. Articles on scientific topics appeared in popular women’s magazines and books designed to introduce women to scientific disciplines. Noted examples of this popular new genre include Francesco Algarotti’s Newtonianism for Ladies or Dialogues on light and colours. This book was an 18th century best seller and was one of the main channels through which Newtonian ideas reached the public in continental Europe. The text explained the principles of Newton's Opticks while avoiding much of the mathematical rigor of the work in favour of a more "agreeable" text. Algarotti presented Newton as a follower of the Galilean tradition and the first modern philosopher. The description of some of Newton’s experiments on the nature of light and colours in the form of a gentle dialogue has great educational value, because it does not demand any geometrical or algebraic knowledge.

In this article, the authors want to underline the importance of Algarotti's book for the dissemination of Newton's ideas that until then had been shared only by scholars.

Algarotti’s book today is testimony to women’s interest in science during 18th century.

Author Biographies

  • Paola Magnaghi-Delfino, Department of Mathematics, Politecnico di Milano, Milan, Italy

    Paola Magnaghi-Delfino - •Assistant Professor of Mathematical Analysis at Politecnico di Milano, member of the laboratory FDS of the Mathematics’ Department. She is co-founder of IAMAI (International Association of Mathematics and Art – Italy). The fields of research of Paola are the relationships between mathematics and arts and history of mathematics, on these themes Paola produced several papers in collaboration with Mele and Norando.

  • Giampiero Mele, Università degli Studi eCampus, Novedrate (CO), Italy

    Giampiero Mele - Architect, Ph.D.at the University of Florence, Ph.D. at the Université di Paris 8. Associate Professor (Università degli studi eCampus), Professor of Descriptive Geometry (University of Florence, Politecnico di Milano, University of Ferrara). His fields of research are the relationships between geometry and arithmetic in historic architecture, and drawing in architecture and design. Founder and President of IAMAI.

  • Tullia Norando, Department of Mathematics, Politecnico di Milano, Milan, Italy

    Tullia Norando - Associate Professor of Mathematical Analysis at Politecnico di Milano, member of the laboratory FDS of the Mathematics’ Department. She is co-founder of IAMAI (International Association of Mathematics and Art –Italy). The fields of research of Tullia are the relationships between mathematics and arts and history of mathematics, on these themes Tullia produced several papers in collaboration with Magnaghi and Mele.

References

Algarotti F. (1737) Il Newtonianismo per le dame. it.wikisource.org/wiki/Il_Newtonianismo_per_le_dame (Accessed: 24 May 2019).

Algarotti F. (2017) Opere del conte Francesco Algarotti. Delhi: ReInk Books.

Algarotti. (Accessed: 24 May 2019).

Baetjer K. (2003) ‘Venice in the Eighteenth Century’, In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/venc/hd_venc.htm. (Accessed: 24 May 2019).

Barbetta M. C. (2013) Il Newtonianesimo per le Dame di Francesco Algarotti, Il limite e l'infinito: studi in onore di Antonio Moretto. pp.121- 138. Bologna: ArcheotipoLibri.

Giudice F. (2009) Lo spettro di Newton. La rivelazione della luce e dei colori. Roma: Donzelli Editore.

Lowengard S. (2005) The Creation of Color in Eighteenth-Century Europe.New York: Gutenberg-e Home Columbia University Press.

Massarenti A. (2006) ‘Newton’. Milano: Il Sole 24Ore, Officine Grafiche Calderini.

Newton I. (1704) Opticks: or, a Treatise of the reflexions, refractions, inflexions and colours of light. London: Sommel Smith and Benjamin Walford.

Salvadé A. M. (2010) ‘Francesco Algarotti. Newtonianismo per le dame’. L’incipit e la tradizione letteraria italiana. Seicento e Settecento, pp.209-216. Lecce: PensaMultiMedia Editore.

Westfall R. (1962) ‘The Development of Newton's Theory of Color’. Isis, 53(3), pp. 339-358.

Downloads

Published

2020-07-01

Issue

Vol. 12 No. 02 (2020)

Section

Papers

License

The "Cultura e Scienza del Colore - Color Culture and Science" journal is registered at the Court of Milan at n.233 of 24.06.2014.

The journal is an open access journal, free for readers and authors and has joined ROAD, the Directory of Open Access scholarly Resources, since 2014. Articles published in the “Cultura e Scienza del Colore - Color Culture and Science" journal are open access articles, distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The copyright is retained by the author(s).

How to Cite

“Francesco Algarotti explains Newton’s prism experiment to Ladies” (2020) Cultura e Scienza del Colore - Color Culture and Science, 12(02), pp. 31–36. doi:10.23738/CCSJ.120204.