BIOGRAPHY

Ivano Dal Prete (PhD, University of Verona, 2005) specializes in the social and cultural history of early modern science. He has published a book on the scientific culture of 18^th-century Republic of Venice (Scienza e Società nel Settecento Veneto, 2008) and numerous articles on scientific information and exchange networks, 18^th-century generation theories, and the history of the Earth in Renaissance vernacular culture. He has been a fellow at the Italian Academy for Advanced Studies in America and the Huntington library, and a lecturer and visiting professor at Yale University, Columbia University , and the University of Minnesota.

PROJECT SUMMARY

This project explores didactic and vernacular literature on the age and history of the Earth in medieval and early modern Italy. By showing the broad diffusion of notions of an ancient Earth, it aims to enrich and problematize our view of Renaissance Earth history and of its relationship with the creation account of Genesis.