The Mahematics Collection

The Maths Library is mentioned for the first time in a 1928/29 register of the University of Ferrara, when Margherita  Belochly, Professor of Geometry,  promoted the library foundation and was responsible of it until the Academic year 1949/50.

Francesco Santini, Memorie matematiche, Ferrara, Domenico Taddei, 1843.

The oldest section of the Maths library consists of about 400 volumes, which testify Professor Beloch’s  research fields and interests, i.e. the history of mathematics and most of all geometry, as proved by the fundamental work by  Luigi Cremona Elementi di geometria projettiva, 1873 edition published by Paravia, and many others.  Of this original core, about 70 volumes were endowned to the library while the majority was bought by Prof. Beloch on the antiquarian market, as for instance the three volumes Opere di Galileo Galilei, printed in Florence by Tartini and Franchi, 1718.

In the 1950s, when Giuseppe Zwirner was Head of the Institute of Mathematics, the library collection acquired many books on rational mechanics, mathematical physics and mathematical analysis.

The Maths library also includes other interesting small collections, set of volumes or entire personal libraries that used to belong to Mathematics academic scholars: Domenico Montesano, bought by Prof.Beloch, Luigi Fantappiè, acquired by Professors Mario Fiorentini and Luigi Pepe, and more recently, the Fiorentini collection, consisting of about 200 volumes endowned by Prof. Giovanni Fiorentini himself.

The collection is available at:Biblioteca del Dipartimento di Matematica

References

Alessandra FIOCCA, Dipartimento di matematica: la biblioteca, in Verso un museo delle scienze: orto botanico, musei e collezioni storico-scientifiche dell’Università di Ferrara, a cura di Carmela Loriga, «Annali dell’Università di Ferrara», volume speciale (2001), pp. 63-70.