 The Reale Museo di Fisica e Storia Naturale. |
In 1780, construction was started on an astronomical observatory, the "Specola", at the Museum of Physics, founded by Pietro Leopoldo in 1775. The Observatory, built also with the intention of providing a link with the Galilean tradition, began to function scientifically only in the nineteenth century, under the direction of Giovan Battista Amici (1786-1863), and later of Giovan Battista Donati (1826-73). Thanks to the untiring, generous commitment of Donati in 1872, the new Arcetri Observatory, located in an environment much more favourable to astronomical studies than that of the "Specola" was inaugurated. In this room are extremely important telescopes constructed for the "Specola" and for the Arcetri Observatory. Among these instruments, the telescopes of Giovan Battista Amici are of particular interest. Another intriguing instrument is the burning glass given by Benedetto Bergans to Cosimo III. It was utilized by Humphry Davy (1778-1829) in 1829 for research on the chemical nature of the diamond. |