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Environmental History of Nuclear Energy. Contents INTRODUZIONE. TEMPI STORICI, TEMPI GEOLOGICI (p. 9) CAPITOLO 1. AMBIENTE SETTANTA (p. 21) 1.1 Il senso di un decennio (p. 21) 1.2 Scienza, ambiente e istituzioni negli anni Settanta.... more
Environmental History of Nuclear Energy.

Contents
INTRODUZIONE. TEMPI STORICI, TEMPI GEOLOGICI (p. 9)

CAPITOLO 1. AMBIENTE SETTANTA (p. 21)
1.1  Il senso di un decennio (p. 21)
1.2  Scienza, ambiente e istituzioni negli anni Settanta. Un percorso storico  (p. 41)
1.3 The Closing Circle e la “svolta” dell’ecologia politica in Italia  (p. 59)
1.4  Per una storia della radioecologia  (p. 81)

CAPITOLO 2. ENERGIA PER QUALE FUTURO. L’OPZIONE NUCLEARE: IL CONTESTO INTERNAZIONALE, LE SOLUZIONI TECNOLOGICHE, I CONFLITTI (p. 93)
2.1  La questione energetica nella prospettiva internazionale  (p. 93)
2.2  Gli echi della crisi  (p. 102)
2.3  L’energia nucleare tra cooperazione e competizione nel contesto comunitario e internazionale degli anni Sessanta e Settanta  (p. 117)
2.4  I reattori nucleari nella transizione dagli anni Sessanta ai Settanta  (p. 137)
2.5  L’Atomo negato: gli anni della contestazione  (p. 154)
2.6  L’Italia nella transizione energetica degli anni Sessanta e Settanta: considerazioni introduttive (p. 172)

CAPITOLO 3. LA CONTROVERSIA NUCLEARE NELL’ITALIA DELLA CONTESTAZIONE. UN PERCORSO INTERPRETATIVO TRA STORIA DELL’AMBIENTE E GIUSTIZIA AMBIENTALE (p. 181)
3.1  Lineamenti di un conflitto: la legge 393/1975 sulla localizzazione dei siti nucleari  (p. 181)
3.2  Narrative di lotta e compromesso: organizzazioni sindacali e movimenti antinucleari tra scienza e ideologia (p. 213)
3.3  Le contestazioni di fine anni Settanta e la Commissione Fortuna (p. 230)
3.4  L’Atlante dei Siti Nucleari (p. 235)
3.5  La geografia contesa: geostoria ed energia nucleare (p. 251)

CONCLUSIONI. VENEZIA MON AMOUR (p. 283)

FONTI E STUDI (p. 297)

INDICE DEI NOMI (p. 325)
Recensioni (reviews): - Le Scienze (Anna Rita Longo), n. 546, febbraio 2014, p. 93 - MATEpristem – http://matematica.unibocconi.it/libri/dal-sogno-degli-alchimisti-agli-incubi-di-frankenstein - Query on line. Rivista del Cicap... more
Recensioni (reviews):
- Le Scienze (Anna Rita Longo), n. 546, febbraio 2014, p. 93
- MATEpristem – http://matematica.unibocconi.it/libri/dal-sogno-degli-alchimisti-agli-incubi-di-frankenstein 
- Query on line. Rivista del Cicap (recensione di Andrea Albini) – http://www.queryonline.it/2014/02/05/la-scienza-e-i-media-nellultimo-libro-di-andrea-candela/ 
- Scienza in rete (recensione di Cristina Bellon) – http://www.scienzainrete.it/contenuto/articolo/cristina-bellon/da-sogno-degli-alchimisti-allincubo-di-frankenstein/novembre-2013
- Dire fare scrivere. Mensile di cultura e scrittura (Selene M. Corapi) – http://www.bottegaeditoriale.it/lacultura.asp?id=122
- Prealpina (01/03/2014): http://www.prealpina.it
- Lombardia Oggi (Carlo Colombo), 9 marzo 2014, p. 38. 
- La scienza nei media: da ieri ad oggi di Viola Rita (Galileo. Giornale di scienza):  http://www.galileonet.it/articles/53515050a5717a6b81000001
- Scienze e Ricerche (rivista Associazione Italiana del Libro) - http://www.scienzericerche.com/?p=555

Abstract:  http://www.francoangeli.it/Ricerca/Scheda_libro.aspx?ID=21352

Il libro traccia un'approfondita panoramica storica sulle diverse forme di narrazione (storytelling) della scienza e della tecnologia nei mass media. Si concentra prevalentemente sull’informazione giornalistica. Ne ripercorre la storia e cerca di cogliere le motivazioni storiche e culturali che hanno indotto prima la carta stampata e poi i mezzi di comunicazione di massa ad avvalersi di un linguaggio sensazionalistico nel raccontare le avventure della scienza in pubblico. La rappresentazione popolare della scienza rievoca spesso un insieme di figure appartenenti all’immaginario collettivo: maghi e alchimisti, mostri e apprendisti stregoni, gesta eroiche e catastrofi, elisir e veleni. Considerando diversi casi storici, dalle scienze biologiche di fine Settecento e inizio Ottocento fino agli odierni dibattiti su biotecnologie, Aids, nucleare, cambiamenti climatici ecc., il volume esamina quegli snodi salienti che hanno permesso la nascita di uno specifico immaginario scientifico, all’origine del quale si ritrovano narrazioni mitologiche, rumors e credenze popolari riguardanti maghi, alchimisti e mostruosità. L’informazione mediatica, talora inconsapevolmente, attinge alle forme narrative del mito con l’intenzione di attribuire un significato, non sempre chiaro ed evidente, al ruolo spesso ambiguo e sempre più invasivo delle scoperte scientifiche (da Il Galileo. Mensile di scienza, tecnologia, politica, cultura).
Contents - INTRODUZIONE Atlantide e le bocche dell'inferno. La natura tra mito e geostoria. CAP. 1 La Alpi e le Prealpi nell'esplorazione naturalistica sette-ottocentesca. 1.1 Forme del tempo. 1.2 L'ultima "Terra incognita".... more
Contents -

INTRODUZIONE
Atlantide e le bocche dell'inferno. La natura tra mito e geostoria.
CAP. 1
La Alpi e le Prealpi nell'esplorazione naturalistica sette-ottocentesca.
1.1 Forme del tempo.
1.2 L'ultima "Terra incognita". Viaggi d'esplorazione e scienze della natura.
1.3 Le Alpi: ambiente e storia nell'Europa di fine Settecento e dell'età napoleonica.
1.4 Le Alpi tra teorie e storia della Terra: geologia regionale, storicizzazione della natura e scienze biologiche.

CAP. 2
Vulcani, orogenesi e "catastrofi naturali". Vulcanologia storica e storia della vulcanologia nel Settecento.
2.1 Lo studio e la storia delle catastrofi naturali nel Settecento.
2.2 Nel passato della Terra: vulcani estinti e viaggi vulcanologici.
2.3 Porcellane, metalli e graniti: storia e cultura materiale nello sviluppo delle scienze geologiche.

CAP. 3
Vulcani estinti e Geostoria
3.1 Alpi e Prealpi Lombarde: i caratteri originiali.
3.2 Eruzioni e inondazioni: l'ipotesi del "vulcanismo subalpino".
3.3 Sul "Diluvio Universale": le "rivoluzioni" della Terra tra "storia mosaica" e geostoria nel "sistema geologico" di Ermenegildo Pini.
3.4 Storia e teoria della Terra nell'Introduzione alla Geologia di Scipione Breislak (1811).
3.5 Vulcani ed orogenesi alpina: verso una teoria tettonica della Terra.

CONCLUSIONE
Gli sviluppi del XIX secolo: l'indagine vulcanologica tra fisica, chimica e geodinamica.

BIBLIOGRAFIA
INDICE DEI NOMI
Contents - Introduzione Capitolo I Il paesaggio Prealpino 1.1. Le Prealpi Varesine, 17 – 1.2. Il territorio di Brinzio, 18. Capitolo II L’uomo e il suo territorio 2.1. I lavori della terra, 23 – 2.1.1. La lavorazione dei... more
Contents -

Introduzione

Capitolo I
Il paesaggio Prealpino
1.1. Le Prealpi Varesine, 17 – 1.2. Il territorio di Brinzio, 18.

Capitolo II
L’uomo e il suo territorio
2.1. I lavori della terra, 23 – 2.1.1. La lavorazione dei campi in montagna, 25 – 2.1.2. La cerealicoltura: dalla mietitura alla conservazione, 34 – 2.2. La stalla, 42 – 2.2.1. L’allevamento in montagna: considerazioni generali, 43 – 2.2.2. La fienagione, 51 – 2.3. Le risorse del bosco, 60 – 2.3.1. Il bosco prealpino: considerazioni generali, 60 – 2.3.2. Le attività del bosco e la selvicoltura, 61 – 2.4. Le colture minori, 75 – 2.4.1. La canapicoltura: dalla pianta alla fibra, 76 – 2.4.2. La bachicoltura, 83 – 2.4.3. L’apicoltura, 90 – 2.5. L’ediliza, 97 – 2.5.1. L’emigrazione stagionale, 99 – 2.5.2. La casa rurale di montagna, 102.

Capitolo III
L’uomo e la cultura del “saper fare”
3.1. Le attività domestiche, 109 – 3.1.1. La cucina: tra paiolo e focolare, 110 – 3.1.2. Il bucato: lavare, stirare, rammendare, 118 – 3.1.3. Dal filo al tessuto:filatura e tessitura casalinga, 127 – 3.2. Le pratiche quotidiane in dimora, 132 – 3.2.1. L’igiene personale, 132 – 3.2.2. I sistemi di illuminazione e riscaldamento, 134 – 3.3. Le attività di bottega, 137 – 3.3.1. Il falegname, 142 – 3.3.2. Il fabbro, 158 – 3.3.3. Il calzolaio, 164 – 3.4. L’educazione e il tempo libero, 168 – 3.4.1. I divertimenti, 171 – 3.4.2. La scuola, 173.

Conclusioni

Riferimenti Bibliografici

web site:  http://www.museo.brinzio.va.it/
For more than half a century, nuclear energy has been among the main issues of public concern, and thus of political, social as well as environmental debate. Nuclear energy has generated a long-standing controversy that began with the... more
For more than half a century, nuclear energy has been among the main issues of public concern, and thus of political, social as well as environmental debate. Nuclear energy has generated a long-standing controversy that began with the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki which comprise one of the most crucial turning points of contemporary history, from WWII up to the present. This paper aims to deal with a shorter period within this long and still controversial history. It focuses on the 1970s, when in Italy-as well as in the United States and Western Europe-the 1973 oil crisis made clear the need to diversify energy supply sources. As a result, national and international interest in nuclear power increased. The transition to a fully-fledged nuclear industry was to be achieved by the end of the century, with the launch of the first fast breeder reactors (FBRs). In Italy, the National Committee for Nuclear Energy (Comitato Nazionale per l'Energia Nucleare-CNEN), in agreement with the National Electricity Board (Ente Nazionale per l'Energia Elettrica-ENEL) and the newly established regional political bodies (Regional Councils), were entrusted with the task of drawing up the national map of sites suitable for nuclear facilities, and especially for nuclear power plants. The paper aims to provide an overview of the main geological issues that fueled the Italian 'nuclear siting controversy' during the 1970s. It focuses also on some still unpublished topics, such as those about the ENEL-CNEN Joint Study Commission for the Seismic Problems Associated with the Installation of Nuclear Plants and the drafting of a first national map of areas suitable for radioactive waste repositories. The matters under discussion here are significant because of the link with some key issues still open in contemporary debates on nuclear energy, such as planning and siting of nuclear facilities. It is also worth noting that some current global emergencies (e.g., the war in Ukraine and climate change) have brought the European, and more generally international, debate back to the urgency of energy diversification, including nuclear power in the energy generation mix. Historical analysis, although focused on particular case studies from the past, can help to better understand such a complex issue.
Beginning in the late 1940s, a regional-scale geochemical and geophysical prospecting survey for radioactive minerals was launched in Italy. A ‘hectic’ season of prospecting for uranium- and thorium-bearing ore deposits began. It aimed at... more
Beginning in the late 1940s, a regional-scale geochemical and geophysical
prospecting survey for radioactive minerals was launched in Italy. A ‘hectic’ season of prospecting for uranium- and thorium-bearing ore deposits began. It aimed at finding out mineral resources that, in the long term, could contribute to the full development of a nuclear industry on a national scale. These surveys were part of a wider European program to increase sources of raw materials for the nuclear energy supply chain. Several areas of the Italian peninsula, and particularly the Alps and Prealps, thus became destinations for field surveys in search of uranium deposits. Novazza in the Orobie (Bergamasque) Alps (Lombardy, northern Italy) and the nearby Vedello Valley (Valtellina) gained considerable importance in this regard. The paper aims to provide an overview of the history of uranium research in Italy, from the earliest geological investigations in the Alps and Prealps to the historical events involving the mineralization of the Orobie Mountains: Italy’s largest uranium deposit.

Keywords: uranium; nuclear energy; Italy
At the beginning of the industrial atomic age, launched by President Dwight Eisenhower's speech on the peaceful uses of nuclear energy (“Atoms for Peace”, addressed to the United Nations General Assembly, New York, 8 December 1953), and... more
At the beginning of the industrial atomic age, launched by President Dwight Eisenhower's speech on the peaceful uses of nuclear energy (“Atoms for Peace”, addressed to the United Nations General Assembly, New York, 8 December 1953), and after the birth of the first atomic agencies in France (Commissariat a l'Énergie Atomique, 1945) and the United States (the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, 1946), the Comitato Nazionale per le Ricerche Nucleari (National Committee for Nuclear Research–CNRN) was also established in Italy (1952). The new institution, in 1960 became a self-governing organization with a modified name, Comitato Nazionale per l'Energia Nucleare (National Committee for Nuclear Energy–CNEN). Its mission was to promote and develop Italian research in nuclear science and technology. Mining and mineral exploration were among the early activities that the National Committee undertook beginning in 1954, when the Divisione Geomineraria (Geology and Mining Division) was established. A regional-scale geochemical and geophysical prospecting survey for U-Th bearing ores involved different Italian regions both in northern and in southern Italy. Geological surveys, for instance, were systematically carried out in the Alps beginning in 1954. They were run by three main teams of geologists. The paper aims to analyze the key factors that contributed to fostering the emergence of a new field of research about uranium and nuclear geology in Italy during the years immediately after WWII.
The paper deals with issues which are raised by the approaches of experimental history, and are still widely discussed by historiography of science and technology. Following the critical analysis of those controversial matters which have... more
The paper deals with issues which are raised by the approaches of experimental history, and are still widely discussed by historiography of science and technology. Following the critical analysis of those controversial matters which have been involving this historiographical method since the Sixties, the article suggests some innovative applications of the experimental history to Earth sciences. The methodology, as defined below, could play an important role to plan interesting activities for geoconservation as well as improving the geological heritage.
Riassunto: Dalla seconda metà del diciottesimo secolo, il viaggio scientifico in montagna divenne una pratica di indagine piuttosto comune tra gli studiosi, italiani ed europei, della superficie terrestre. L'esplorazione scientifica dei... more
Riassunto: Dalla seconda metà del diciottesimo secolo, il viaggio scientifico in montagna divenne una pratica di indagine piuttosto comune tra gli studiosi, italiani ed europei, della superficie terrestre. L'esplorazione scientifica dei rilievi montuosi oltre a favorire la loro graduale conoscenza geologica e naturalistica, contribuì alla progressiva istituzionalizzazione delle scienze della Terra. L'articolo, dopo un'introduzione di sintesi sulla figura di Paolo Sangiorgio, savant milanese sette-ottocentesco, ripropone la trascrizione integrale della relazione del viaggio (1771) che egli condusse in Valsassina. Questa circoscrive, senza dubbio, una testimonianza primaria di rilievo, grazie alla quale poter cogliere anche il valore epistemico che il viaggio scientifico su Alpi e Prealpi acquisì tra Sette e Ottocento.

Abstract: Between the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the institutionalization of Earth sciences was made possible by the spread, across Europe, of rather commonly known experimental approaches, which were partly based on mountain exploration. The scientific travel to the mountains acquired its own tools and practices soon, and made an important contribution to the emergence of historical geology. Against this backdrop, the geological as well as natural knowledge of the Alps and Prealps took place, involving several Italian and European scholars. This paper, after brief considerations on the biography of Paolo Sangiorgio, an Italian savant, offers the complete edition of the unpublished manuscript (1771) of his journey to Valsassina (Lombard Prealps, Northern Italy). The report of his surveys to the east of the lake of Como is certainly a significant primary source about the epistemic value that the scientific travel had acquired by the first half of the nineteenth century.
This paper critically considers the history of nuclear energy in Australia, placing particular emphasis on the strong debate about uranium mining and exporting which occurred between the late 1960s and early 1980s. Though this topic has... more
This paper critically considers the history of nuclear energy in Australia, placing particular emphasis on the strong debate about uranium mining and exporting which occurred between the late 1960s and early 1980s. Though this topic has been already analyzed by different historical studies and through numerous methodological approaches, some issues of the Australian as well as international ‘atomic debate’ which involved civil uses of nuclear power in the second half of the 20th century remain under-investigated. This article, for instance, focuses on the little-known and seldom popularized history of Synroc which, in the late 1970s, was presented as the ‘geological perspective’ to deal with radioactive waste disposal. The matters under discussion here are particularly important because of their links with some key issues still prevalent in the international nuclear debate, such as nuclear safety, atomic weapons proliferation and the safe disposal of nuclear wastes.
Introduzione; Lo "storytelling": considerazioni sul contesto teorico; "Storytelling" e meteorologia: l'estate "mitica" del 2012; Meteonomia: cornici narrative e analisi della copertura giornalistica; Conclusioni; Bibliografia
At the beginning of the 20th century the collective imagination was fascinated and terrified by the discovery of radium. A scientific imagery sprang up around radioactivity and was disseminated by public lectures and newspaper articles... more
At the beginning of the 20th century the collective imagination was fascinated and terrified by the discovery of radium. A scientific imagery sprang up around radioactivity and was disseminated by public lectures and newspaper articles discussing the ambiguous power of this strange substance. It was claimed that radium could be used to treat cholera, typhus and tuberculosis, but at the same time there were warnings that it could be used for military purposes. The media and the scientists themselves employed a rich vocabulary influenced by religion, alchemy and magic. The ambivalent power of radioactive elements exerted a great influence on science fiction novelists. This paper will examine some significant works published in Europe, America and Russia during the first decades of the 20th century and their role in the creation of the complex imagery of radioactivity that seized the public imagination long before the invention of the atomic bomb.

Contents
- Introduction: The Historical Context
- The Utopias of Emilio Salgari and H.G. Wells, Suspended between Progress and Catastrophe
- The Ambiguous Nature of Radioactivity and Anxieties Regarding Technology in Early 20th-Century Novels and Feuilletons
- Radioactivity and Nuclear Energy in Slavic Literature in the 1920s and 1930s
- Conclusions
download: http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0963662514548135 http://pus.sagepub.com/content/early/2014/09/02/0963662514548135.abstract 1. Introduction - 2. Previous studies on radiation and nuclear energy - 3. Considerations... more
download: http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0963662514548135

http://pus.sagepub.com/content/early/2014/09/02/0963662514548135.abstract

1. Introduction - 2. Previous studies on radiation and nuclear energy - 3. Considerations on the historical and cultural contexts - 4. Science representation in the news media - 5. Methods - 6. Results - 7. Conclusion
(The contribution of the ecological thinking in the history of material culture studies. Some brief reflections) The history of material culture has become an important tool in order to achieve a better knowledge of given landscapes... more
(The contribution of the ecological thinking in the history of material culture studies. Some brief reflections)

The history of material culture has become an important tool in order to achieve a better knowledge of given landscapes and increase their cultural wealth. These studies are very useful for planning different typologies of land valorisation, such as ecomuseums. At the same time, they acquired an essential value to promote new forms of sustainable development and cultural tourism. After an initial discussion about the history of the concept of material culture, above all with relation to recent theoretical trends of biological and natural sciences, the paper will show the potentialities of these historical and scientific studies to analyse the management of natural resources during the history of a given settlement and the relationships between productive human activities and the environment of cohabitation. In such a way, the material proofs of the past could be a useful information source to recognize persistences, changes and vocations of a given landscape.
The Alps, from the 1780s onward, might be considered an area of technological transfer and development, especially with relation to mining activity and management of natural resources. At the end of the eighteenth century, a renewed... more
The Alps, from the 1780s onward, might be considered an area of technological transfer and development, especially with relation to mining activity and management of natural resources. At the end of the eighteenth century, a renewed interest towards the exploitation of mineral deposits, due to a growing request of metals all over Europe, caused the gradual reopening of excavations along the flanks of the Alps and Prealps. The rediscovery of many deposits has been included in the scientific and social background of geo-mineralogical travels. These were often supported by government funding in eighteenth-century Lombardy. In the wake of several measures, undertaken by some Italian States in order to increase mining activities and cope with the imminent shortage of firewood along the sides of the Alps, the paper will examine the technological transfer, occurred in Europe, that allowed the introduction of new technologies of melting and mining.
In 1952, within CNR (National Research Council), National Committee for Nuclear Research (CNRN) was founded in Italy, with the main purpose of acquiring and developing knowledge about peaceful applications of nuclear energy. In 1960, CNRN... more
In 1952, within CNR (National Research Council), National Committee for Nuclear Research (CNRN) was founded in Italy, with the main purpose of acquiring and developing knowledge about peaceful applications of nuclear energy. In 1960, CNRN became a public self-governing institution, separated from CNR and changing the name into CNEN (National Committee for Nuclear Energy). During the first period of establishment, CNEN policy choices undoubtedly reflected optimism and triumphalism followed by the first United Nations Conference on peaceful use of nuclear power, held in Geneva in 1955. The huge interest towards different nuclear applications was certainly driven by strategic needs related to industrial and economic development of industrialized countries. At the beginning of the “industrial atomic age”, nuclear industry was surely an instrument of technological “transfer” and innovation; it didn’t represent an alternative to fossil fuels. Mining explorations were among the earlier activities undertaken in the CNRN foundation, mainly since 1961. A regional scale geochemical prospecting reconnaissance for uranium in several alpine regions and in different part of Central-Southern Italy was realized. These explorations represented undoubtedly an effort to manage an energy policy not entirely dependent on the international context and raw materials imports. Considering this historical outlook, the paper will try to trace the initial stages of uranium policy and studies in Italy. An interest that led to open a university teaching in “Geology of Uranium” at the Polytechnic School of Milan and to establish a scientific and technical discipline with its own handbooks,reviews and popular publications.
(Climate Sciences and scientific method between science communication and sociology of knowledge) Climate sciences are not yet able to establish actual increase in globally averaged temperatures with certainty, especially in relation... more
(Climate Sciences and scientific method between science communication and sociology of knowledge)

Climate sciences are not yet able to establish actual increase in globally averaged temperatures with certainty, especially in relation to human activities. Although the majority of scientific community agrees that a phase of climatic instability is undoubtedly underway and we can talk about a current “Climate Change”, scientific and socio-political debates are still focused on the scientific relevance of the “Anthropogenic Global Warming” (anthropogenic greenhouse effect). The so-called “crucial proof” is still lacking. Starting from an analysis of several official reports, institutional sources and public discussions of last months, the paper examines the development of climate sciences through historiographical and epistemological categories of Sociology of Knowledge and Science Communication. Considering the complex relationships between science, technology and society, the definition of “scientific community” could be replaced by that of “scientific field”. Experimental data are only one of different tools used by scientific enterprise, indeed it should be taken into account others external factors, not necessarily related to laboratory activity and fieldwork, such as: negotiates, personal satisfaction, institutions, policy making, economy etc. Climatology is a case in point. Finally, the article analyses some interesting observations coming from cognitive approaches (cognitive theory of science), according to which science could be defined as an evolutionary and cultural phenomenon related to contingency (historical context).
Nuclear energy and mass media in Italy
(Researches of mining archaeology in the Western area of Lombard Prealps: scenarios of preservation and development of a "cultural environment") In the 18th and 19th centuries, there was a considerable development in mining activities... more
(Researches of mining archaeology in the Western area of Lombard Prealps: scenarios of preservation and development of a "cultural environment")

In the 18th and 19th centuries, there was a considerable development in mining activities in different regions of the Italian peninsula. Indeed, especially in the second hal of the 18th century, a renewed interest in the exploitation of mineral deposits, due to a growing demand of metals all over Europe, caused the gradual reopening of several ancient mines. For these reason settlements were established near mining sites, particularly in proximity to the Alps. Using various types of data and sources, both historical and archaeological, it is possible to reconstruct the history of these peculiar anthropical environments, on the basis of the geo-lithological and morphological features of given areas. Moreover, historical sources are important tools for the recovery and re-evaluation old mining sites, as well as for the reconstruction of the evolution of specific landscape in the broader spectrum og historical and technological trends. This paper examines a single case study, still poorly understood, concerning the mining deposits in the Pre-Alps of Western Lombardy. The hill of this area cannot be historically considered a remarkable mining district, such as the better known eastern mountain regions of Lombardy, nevertheless, excavation activities shaped this slopes of the Pre-Alps with distinctive infrastructures which still exist. This type of research represents an interesting way of increasing the environmental riches and cultural heritage of the Alps, through the establishment of mining parks, Geoparks and naturalistic or historical routes.
Nota introduttiva Il dibattito specialistico, e non, sulle problematiche etiche sollevate dalla gravosa questione del cambiamento climatico si è ampliato, soprattutto, nel corso dell'ultimo decennio, arricchendosi di importanti... more
Nota introduttiva
Il dibattito specialistico, e non, sulle problematiche etiche sollevate dalla gravosa questione del cambiamento climatico si è ampliato, soprattutto, nel corso dell'ultimo decennio, arricchendosi di importanti contributi. Tuttavia, scopo dello scritto proposto in questa sede non è quello di ripercorrere in modo analitico la complessità delle differenti impostazioni teoretiche che hanno alimentato questo dibattito, bensì, attraverso la rivisitazione di un precedente contributo, chiarire nuovamente il valore che alcune categorie della riflessione bioetica possono avere al fine di allargare gli orizzonti dell'indagine, non solo scientifica, sul fenomeno climatico in atto.
During the second half of the eighteenth century, the study of volcanism was related to the question of orogenesis and the controversial lithogenesis of basalt. In the Italian peninsula, the key outcrops occurred mainly along the... more
During the second half of the eighteenth century, the study of volcanism was related to the question of orogenesis and the controversial lithogenesis of basalt. In the Italian peninsula, the key outcrops occurred mainly along the foothills of the Alps of Veneto. Moreover, the question of the origin of columnar basalts and other rocks (porphyry, granite) involved theories on the age of the Earth and the possible recognition of an evolutionary process of the making of lithosphere. Consequently, following explorations in the Alps and Prealps several scientists began to regard the basaltic formations as evidence of the relationships between mountains and ancient volcanoes. Nevertheless, especially from the 1780s, the spread of Wernerian theory in some Italian States led to criticism of the vulcanists' conclusions. Thus, some naturalists working in Lombardy tried to re-establish the idea of a great flood to explain the morphology of the Central Alps. Discussing this complex situation, the paper analyses the development of regional geology, based on fieldwork, which emphasized the function of volcanic activity in the history of building the Earth's crust and mountains.
Intervento presentato nel corso del ciclo di conferenze dal titolo: "Predatori del microcosmo".
Varese 17 ottobre 2014 – 25 gennaio 2015.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
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