Substantia. An International Journal of the History of Chemistry 1(1): 97-98, 2017 Firenze University Press www.fupress.com/substantia DOI: 10.13128/Substantia-5 Manifesto of the journal PREAMBLE In the current historical period, marked by tragic conflicts and dramatic tensions in various areas, it is absolutely appropriate to ponder and recoup the funda- mental aspects of culture, e.g. the relationship with the past, people’s common history, and the universal values on which our coexistence and civilization are based upon. In such a context it seems important to deepen the relationship with the past history, and not only the ancient history or that of a few centuries ago, but also the more recent history, of the Short Century that has just gone. For us, researchers and university teachers of dis- ciplines related to Chemistry, it seems crucial to deepen the bonds with those forerunners who preceded us in research and in education, in order to mature a more convinced and deep awareness of the world and of the civilization from which we come and to pass the baton to the future generations, in total liberty, as stated by the art. 33 of the Constitution of the Italian Republic, that reads “The Republic guarantees the freedom of the arts and sci- ences, which may be freely taught.”1 PRESENTATION Substantia is an international electronic peer- reviewed journal. It is published in English by the Uni- versity of Florence, at the initiative of the Department of Chemistry “Ugo Schiff ”. The journal aims at offering an original cultural contribution in Europe to the History of Chemistry and a scientific tool of communication, debate and close examination of all topics related to Chemical Sciences and similar disciplines. Substantia is born in Florence, one of the cradles for Science, and particularly for Chemistry. As a mat- ter of fact it was during the Florentine Renaissance that the studies and the practices pertaining to Chemistry received a new impetus: the Camerata de’ Bardi was born in the 16th century and promoted a new way to look at sciences, arts and literature (the first records date back to 1573 AD). During the following decades the Accadem- ia dei Lincei (1603), the Accademia del Cimento (1657), the Royal Society in London (1662), the Académie Royale des Sciences in Paris (1666), the Kurfürstlich Akademie der Wissenschaften in Berlin (1700), the Russian Acad- emy of Sciences in St. Petersburg (Российская академия наук, Rossíiskaya akadémiya naúk, 1724), the Kung- liga Vetenskapsakademien in Stockholm (1739), and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences of the Massa- chusetts (1780) were progressively born. These academies became the places of aggregation, dispute and divulgation of the rising Chemistry. Substantia is addressed to teachers, researchers and university students, and to all those interested in deep- ening the scientific themes related to Chemistry. The journal publishes original articles that comply with the criteria of scientific rigour, originality and depth and it is freely distributed over the Internet with no restric- tion in open access, in compliance with the principles of the “Berlin Declaration on Open Access”: open access to knowledge, largest dissemination and visibility on the Web for scientific research, and public distribution of the results of the studies. The journal may host monographic issues focusing onto specific themes of interest. The aims of Substantia, in the attempt to conjugate scientific rigour and an interdisciplinary outlook, include: 1) the promotion of research activities in History of Chemistry through the publication of papers devoted to classical or contemporary Chemistry issues, and in particular of studies that leap over the fences of the rigid academic organization and promote the com- bination and intersection of knowledges, techniques, methodologies and diversified languages 2) the recovery and republication of unpublished or unlikely available works, that represent milestones in the development of Chemistry and related disci- plines, and whose validity and scientific relevance remain untouched also after decades 3) the recovery or the revival of past literature sources, in the attempt to limit the “loss of knowledge” that 98 Manifesto of the journal relentlessly strikes the human culture, and that is inadvertently favored by the extreme fragmentation and specialization of science 4) the promotion of a critical outlook towards current and past theoretical models, in order to encourage and develop the job of young researchers. A SPACE ALSO FOR SIMILAR DISCIPLINES Substantia will always welcome scientific contribu- tions focusing on topics related to all Chemical Sciences, Physics, Mathematics, Life and Earth Sciences, History and Philosophy of the Sciences, Engineering, Medicine, Economics, Social Sciences and Arts. 1. “L’arte e la scienza sono libere e libero ne è l’insegnamento.” https://www.senato.it/documenti/ repository/istituzione/costituzione_inglese.pdf, last accessed on Jan 02, 2017. The Biological/Physical Sciences Divide, and the Age of Unreason Barry W. Ninham Developments of NMR - From Molecules to Human Behaviour and Beyond C.L. Khetrapal1* and K.V. Ramanathan2 The Tribulations of the Inventor Pierre-Gilles De Gennes* Modelling polymers as compressible elastic spheres in Couette flow Donglin Xie and Dave E. Dunstan* From Water to the Stars: A Reinterpretation of Galileo’s Style* Louis Caruana SJ I Felt Reborn (Primo Levi): From the Nobel Dynamite Factory to a Remembrance Place Luigi Dei New Astronomical Observations: Joseph Weber’s Contribution to Gravitational Waves and Neutrinos Detection Stefano Gottardo Isaac Newton and Alchemy Vincenzo Schettino Science is Not a Totally Transparent Structure: Ştefania Mărăcineanu and the Presumed Discovery of Artificial Radioactivity Marco Fontani1*, Mary Virginia Orna2, Mariagrazia Costa1 and Sabine Vater1,3 Manifesto of the journal Acknowledgments