Engineer, architect, technologist, anatomist, machine builder but above all an artist. In what order should these titles be listed referring them to Leonardo da Vinci? What could be the role played by Leonardo in the history of science? Our analysis would like to give an answer to these questions in order to place the figure of Leonardo and the legacy of his knowledge in what has been brilliantly defined as the period of "Science before science". The complex figure of Leonardo has been reconstructed in different eras, enhancing different aspects. Leonardo's contribution to the history of science was rediscovered and valued for the first time by the physicist Giovanni Battista Venturi (1746-1822) who in 1797 published the Essai sur les ouvrages physico-mathématiques de Léonard de Vinci in Paris, while at the beginning of the last century it was the great epistemologist and historian of science Pierre Duhem who dwelled on the analysis of Leonardo's role in the scientific revolution. Starting from these contributions and deepening their research, the course aims to identify the influence produced by Leonardo's ideas, in the light of the reduced circulation of his manuscripts, on the birth and development of modern Galilean science since Leonardo still today offers the opportunity to reflect on how technical-scientific and artistic-humanistic disciplines are closely interconnected. The monographic course, entitled "To know better" Leonardo, Manoscritto H, folio 93 v. Renaissance through lenses, intends to delve into the history and evolution of lenses, parabolic mirrors and other optical instruments in the history of science in the Renaissance, once again using Leonardo as an essential point of reference.

The program is divided into four distinct and thematic modules. Each module will in turn consist of three parts: (A) State of the art: point of knowledge up to Leonardo; (B) Leonardo's contribution; (C) Knowledge after Leonardo: influence or autonomous development?

(I) Painting as a “Science of Vision”.

• Linear perspective from Brunelleschi to Leonardo
• Leonardo: culmination and crisis of the perspective By Leon Battista Alberti
• Linear perspective from Dürer to Galileo
• Linear perspective from Rubens to Turner

(II) The History of Anatomy.

(III) Automation and Robotics.

(IV) The figure of Leonardo as an artist-scientist. Recap of the problem.

MONOGRAPICH CORSE: "To know better". Leonardo, Manuscript H, folio 93 v. Renaissance through lenses

Lenses – curved pieces of glass that can focus light to create magnified images of objects – must be included among the instruments whose use helped to view and magnify reality in an unprecedented way. For example, lenticular artifacts such as telescopes, microscopes, and eyeglasses, literally allowed to focus a new image of the world. Lenses had a fundamental role in the progress of scientific knowledge, and particularly in the period of scientific revolution: the aim of this course is to study in depth what happened before this period and how Greeks, Arabs, Medieval philosophers, Renaissance technologists reflected on Optics and the proprieties of Light and contributed to the development of optical instruments such as parabolic mirrors, eyeglasses, burning glasses, and even some sort of pinhole camerae obscurae, both in Italy and in other centers of production like Germany, France, and the Netherlands.

There are no strict pre-requisites for this course, but a basic introduction to Art History might provide a useful background.

Knowledge and understanding

at the end of the course, students must be able to understand and explain the importance of the figure of Leonardo not only between the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries but also in the following centuries. An essential starting point is that Leonardo can no longer be defined as a "universal genius", as in 1939 the first major exhibition in Milan wanted to present him. In fact, students will have to keep in mind that Leonardo is not an isolated case but constitutes a figure capable of reworking and bringing to extreme consequences the teachings of the authority of the ancients, which he could have had the opportunity to read initially in manuscript form and then in print , of the scientific disciplines developed in the fourteenth century, in particular those relating to medieval perspectiva or to automations, and finally the knowledge derived from the other great protagonists of the time, such as, for example, Mariano di Jacopo known as Taccola, Leon Battista Alberti, Piero della Francesca, Francesco di Giorgio Martini, former interpreters of mathematical culture in Urbino.

Applying knowledge and understanding

After the course students should be able to discuss and evaluate various claims and arguments both in the specialistic debate and in the general cultural debate.

Making judgements

After the course students should be able to make autonomous and original judgements about the arguments in the debate. To this end discussions in the classroom will be encouraged. Originality and autonomous judgement will be part of the final evalution of the student's performance

Communication skills

After the course students should be able to explain and discuss the relevant topics with conceptual and linguistic exactness, and to offer efficacious  and synthetic accounts of the subject matter. To this end, verbal interaction in the classroom and a careful reading and analysis of the relevant texts will be encouraged

Learning skills

After the course students should be acquainted with the subject matter and the method of research enough to be able to proceed on their own  in gathering further knowledge from the literature in the field and in contiguous fields. To this end they should also improve their ability to read English texts in the field.

The teaching material prepared by the lecturer in addition to recommended textbooks (such as for instance slides, lecture notes, exercises, bibliography) and communications from the lecturer specific to the course can be found inside the Moodle platform › blended.uniurb.it

Teaching

Classroom lectures offering general frameworks, analyses of particular topics and exercises, comments to the relevant literature. Before, during and after the lecture questions, comments and discussions by the students are encouraged. Of course personal study at home will be equally important

Attendance

Students should attend classes regularly and actively, since the very beginning. Because of the analytic and often abstract character of the subject matter, active participation in classroom discussion will be very useful. In order to do that, and in general to follow the lectures successfully, it is strongly advised to do every day the homework suggested as preparation for the following lecture

Course books

Programma d’esame:

T. Demeter, B. Láng, D. Schmal, (2020). Scientia in the Renaissance, Concept of. In: Sgarbi, M. (eds) Encyclopedia of Renaissance Philosophy. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-02848-4_266-2

M. Kemp, (2005). La scienza dell’arte: La scienza dell'arte. Prospettiva e percezione visiva da Brunelleschi a Seurat. Giunti Editore, Firenze. [Parte prima: I raggi visivi, capitoli 1 e 2, pp. 9-114]. 

S. Taglialagamba, (2010). Leonardo da Vinci. Automazioni & Robotica. CB Edizioni Forlì. 

C. Pedretti (2006). Leonardo. L’anatomia. Giunti Editore (Art Dossier), Firenze.

M. Cosci, (2018). Lenses in Renaissance Science. In: Sgarbi, M. (eds) Encyclopedia of Renaissance Philosophy. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-02848-4_940-1

2019, la Luna, Leonardo, in “Giornale di Astronomia”, a cura di Flavia Marcacci e Sara Taglialagamba (46, 2020)

Additional texts will be given to students during the lectures (the additional texts will also be available on the Moodle platform › blended.uniurb.it).

Assessment

Written and oral examination. You will be asked to analyze concepts, solve exercises and demonstrate theorems.
This dual-mode makes it possible to assess, in the best way, the achievement of the established formative objectives and competencies.
The final evaluation will take into account the knowledge acquired by the student in terms of analysis of concepts, definitions, theorems, problems, theories, techniques, methods, scientific instruments, etc. The student's ability to use conceptual tools to solve problems and prove/analyze theorems and active participation in the classroom will also contribute to the final evaluation. Finally, the student's capacity for rigorous analysis of themes and problems, autonomy in solving problems and proving theorems, personal and autonomous reworking of knowledge, and planning will be particularly well-appreciated.

All these elements will have equal weight in the assessment. They will be well distinguished on a scale of four levels (not sufficient, sufficient, good, excellent).
The final mark will be expressed on a range from 18/30 to 30/30. A sufficiently rigorous and clear exposition -using adequately specific terms- of the basic contents, concepts, methods, and the ability to solve simple exercises and prove simple theorems will be enough to obtain a sufficient evaluation and to pass the examination (18/30). The other marks will be calibrated on this basis.

Disability and Specific Learning Disorders (SLD)

Students who have registered their disability certification or SLD certification with the Inclusion and Right to Study Office can request to use conceptual maps (for keywords) during exams.

To this end, it is necessary to send the maps, two weeks before the exam date, to the course instructor, who will verify their compliance with the university guidelines and may request modifications.

Teaching

They will study on their own (individually or with others) according to the directions of this vademecum and if possible with the help which can be given by the teacher during office hours or through e-mail, Skype, etc. 

Attendance

In order to make up for the impossibility of attending classes, a hard and careful study is required. One should already possess good skills of autonomous learning and some capacity to read and understand logic and philosophical texts, at least at a basic level. Whenever possible, it is advisable to work with other students. 

Course books

Programma d’esame:

T. Demeter, B. Láng, D. Schmal, (2020). Scientia in the Renaissance, Concept of. In: Sgarbi, M. (eds) Encyclopedia of Renaissance Philosophy. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-02848-4_266-2

M. Kemp, (2005). La scienza dell’arte: La scienza dell'arte. Prospettiva e percezione visiva da Brunelleschi a Seurat. Giunti Editore, Firenze. 

S. Taglialagamba, (2010). Leonardo da Vinci. Automazioni & Robotica. CB Edizioni Forlì. 

C. Pedretti (2008). Il tempio dell'anima. L'Anatomia di Leonardo da Vinci fra Mondino e Berengario. Ventidue fogli di manoscritti e disegni nella Biblioteca Reale di Windsor e in altre raccolte nell'ordinamento cronologico. Firenze, CB Edizioni Forlì. 

M. Cosci, (2018). Lenses in Renaissance Science. In: Sgarbi, M. (eds) Encyclopedia of Renaissance Philosophy. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-02848-4_940-1

2019, la Luna, Leonardo, in “Giornale di Astronomia”, a cura di Flavia Marcacci e Sara Taglialagamba (46, 2020)

Additional texts will be given to students during the lectures (the additional texts will also be available on the Moodle platform › blended.uniurb.it).

Non-attending students are invited to contact the professor for any enquire about the programme and the additional texts.

Assessment

Written and oral examination. You will be asked to analyze concepts, solve exercises and demonstrate theorems.
This dual-mode makes it possible to assess, in the best way, the achievement of the established formative objectives and competencies.
The final evaluation will take into account the knowledge acquired by the student in terms of analysis of concepts, definitions, theorems, problems, theories, techniques, methods, scientific instruments, etc. The student's ability to use conceptual tools to solve problems and prove/analyze theorems will also contribute to the final evaluation. Finally, the student's capacity for rigorous analysis of themes and problems, autonomy in solving problems and proving theorems, personal and autonomous reworking of knowledge, and planning will be particularly well-appreciated.

All these elements will have equal weight in the assessment. They will be well distinguished on a scale of four levels (not sufficient, sufficient, good, excellent).
The final mark will be expressed on a range from 18/30 to 30/30. A sufficiently rigorous and clear exposition -using adequately specific terms- of the basic contents, concepts, methods, and the ability to solve simple exercises and prove simple theorems will be enough to obtain a sufficient evaluation and to pass the examination (18/30). The other marks will be calibrated on this basis.

Disability and Specific Learning Disorders (SLD)

Students who have registered their disability certification or SLD certification with the Inclusion and Right to Study Office can request to use conceptual maps (for keywords) during exams.

To this end, it is necessary to send the maps, two weeks before the exam date, to the course instructor, who will verify their compliance with the university guidelines and may request modifications.