Vol52,6,2009New


V

ANNALS  OF  GEOPHYSICS,  VOL.  52,  N.  6,  December  2009

Preface

Scientific letters, of great importance in the history of science and scientific in-
strumentation, have particular relevance in those sectors of the earth sciences in
which structured observation networks are distributed across the territory, such as
seismology, meteorology, geomagnetism and astronomy. It may come as a surprise
to know that information bearing a certain scientific novelty may be found in the his-
torical scientific letter collections. The current scientific relevance for seismology of
the contents of some historical letters is one of the key aspects meriting investment
in this kind of research, more by seismologists than by science historians. In order
to discuss the methodological aspects of the study of the scientific correspondence
and its scientific relevance, I organised two seminars, one held on 10th May 2002 in
Rome and the other on 30th September 2003 in Forio (Isle of Ischia). 

The first seminar was organised in collaboration with INGV and the former Uf-
ficio Centrale di Ecologia Agraria (now CMA – Unità di Ricerca per la Climatolo-
gia e la Meteorologia Applicate all’Agricoltura), at the congress hall of the UCEA,
historic headquarters of meteorology and seismology in Italy. In addition to leading
scholars involved in studies of this, the descendants of illustrious Italian scholars of
earth sciences were also invited to the seminar: Mario Baratta (1868-1935),
Michele Stefano De Rossi (1834-1898), Pietro Caloi (1907-1978) and Giulio
Grablovitz (1846-1928), along with some prestigious representatives of the public,
private and ecclesiastic Italian archives of interest for this sector. 

The second seminar was organised in collaboration with INGV and the Munici-
pality of Forio at  Villa «La Colombaia», marking the 75th anniversary of the death
of Giulio Grablovitz, director of the Observatory of Casamicciola (one of the first in
the world), and a prominent scholar in the international seismological scenario of
his day.

Most of the contributions presented at the two seminars are published here and
without claiming to be exhaustive they bear witness to the variety of experiences and
documentary wealth available for these disciplinary fields. 

The following scholars also made a contribution to the seminars, without submit-
ting texts for publication: Loredana Esposito, Anita McConnell, Paola Milone,
Francesco Obrizzo, Lydia Salviucci Insolera, Edvige Schettino and Pasquale Tucci.

Vol52,6,2009New  2-12-2009  12:39  Pagina V



Over the last thirty years, historical data in seismology has grown increasingly
in importance, becoming irreplaceable in the definition of the characteristics of
seismicity and the hazardousness of an area. Many important research projects for
the recovery and scientific use of descriptive historical sources and historical seis-
mic recordings have been launched all over the world in the past few decades, with
special regard to Italy and the Euro-Mediterranean area. In the past twenty years,
INGV in Italy has focused on this sector as well, understanding its importance, both
as an autonomous scientific source and complementary to instrumental seismic
recordings, and as a fundamental source for the discipline’s history. Nonetheless,
that wealth of information, even with sole reference to Italy, is still mostly unex-
plored and often underestimated and thus at risk of being dispersed. 

My own personal hope is that the historical epistolary sources pertaining to the
field of the earth sciences may acquire greater importance in the near future, and
that projects for the recovery, reproduction, cataloguing, dissemination and study of
this kind of documentation may involve a growing number of researchers, along with
research and conservation institutions. 

GRAZIANO FERRARI

Vol52,6,2009New  2-12-2009  12:39  Pagina VI