Menchetti, Silvio (Author)
Steno (1638-1686) operated in a historical context rich in discoveries and observations done by previous scientists such as Vannoccio Biringucci, Georg Bauer (Agricola), Johannes von Kepler, Robert Hooke, Christiaan Huyghens, Erasmus Bar-tholin, and others. Steno also had to fight against some irreducible dogmatic and “mythological” beliefs, such as the vis formativa and succus lapidescens, supported by e.g. Michele Mercati and Anselmo Boetius de Boot, respectively. In De solido intra solidum naturaliter contento dissertationis prodromus Steno deals with almost all aspects of Earth Sciences and not just “solid inclusions” as it might seem from the full title of the Prodromus. This contribution deals only with aspects related to crystallography and minerals in general. The most famous is highlighted by the sentence “non mutatis angulis” which is a clear reference to the fact that interfacial angles of quartz crystals do not change regardless of the size and the number of the faces. This observation was then generalized as a law for all minerals by Jean-Baptiste Romé de l’Isle a century later. Less well known but of great importance is Steno’s assertion that the crystals grow thanks to the addition of particles that come from an external fluid and are not “fed” from the inside like in vegetables; moreover, the speed of growth is not the same for all faces. For example, the faces of the “pyramid” in quartz can grow more or less rapidly than those of the prism (giving rise to either squat or elongated crystals). It can therefore be argued that Steno has greatly contributed to the concept of anisotropy in the solid state, typical of all crystals.
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Article
Desmond E. Moser;
(2021)
Crystalline stenonian time features from earth and beyond
(/isis/citation/CBB106520535/)
Article
Stefano Dominici;
(2021)
A man with a master plan: Steno’s observations on earth’s history
(/isis/citation/CBB767123510/)
Article
Alan H. Cutler;
(2021)
Steno and the Rock Cycle
(/isis/citation/CBB133993345/)
Article
Massimo Aliverti;
(2021)
A letter by Nicolaus Steno about a cavern near Como
(/isis/citation/CBB479698684/)
Article
Stefano Dominici;
Gary D. Rosenberg;
(2021)
Introduction: Nicolaus Steno and earth science in early modern Italy
(/isis/citation/CBB445450656/)
Article
Troels Kardel;
(2021)
Nicolaus Steno on solutes and solvents in time-related structural changes of muscles, fossils, landscapes and crystals, his Galilean heritage
(/isis/citation/CBB106475077/)
Book
Belli, Gabriella;
Giacomoni, Paola;
Ottani Cavina, Anna;
(2003)
Montagna: Arte, scienza, mito da Dürer a Warhol
(/isis/citation/CBB000741141/)
Article
Gian Battista Vai;
(2021)
Leonardo da Vinci's and Nicolaus Steno's geology
(/isis/citation/CBB286856019/)
Article
Francesco Luzzini;
(2020)
“Per la vertù propria dell’acque”. Vene minerali e sorgenti nella Pirotechnia di Vannoccio Biringuccio (1540)
(/isis/citation/CBB421613790/)
Chapter
Kardel, Troels;
(2009)
Prompters of Steno's Geological Principles: Generation of Stones in Living Beings, Glossopetrae and Molding
(/isis/citation/CBB001021041/)
Chapter
Thomsen, Elsebeth;
(2009)
Niels Stensen---Steno, in the World of Collections and Museums
(/isis/citation/CBB001021038/)
Article
Nuno Castel-Branco;
(2021)
Dissecting with numbers: mathematics in Nicolaus Steno’s early anatomical writings, 1661-64
(/isis/citation/CBB852055822/)
Book
Raffaello Vergani;
(2003)
Miniere e società nella montagna del passato. Alpi venete, secoli XIII-XIX
(/isis/citation/CBB432582515/)
Thesis
Berns, Andrew;
(2011)
The Natural Philosophy of the Biblical World: Jewish and Christian Physicians in Late Renaissance Italy
(/isis/citation/CBB001567286/)
Book
Pietro Rocchi;
(2010)
Antonio Vallisneri. Dalla Garfagnana alla Scienza
(/isis/citation/CBB363002479/)
Article
Alessandro Ottaviani;
(2021)
The Opposite Poles of a Debate - Lapides figurati and the Accademia dei Lincei
(/isis/citation/CBB770441261/)
Chapter
Francesco Luzzini;
(2010)
Cavità naturali ed artificiali in Garfagnana e Lunigiana. Le esplorazioni di Antonio Vallisneri
(/isis/citation/CBB186766695/)
Chapter
Francesco Luzzini;
(2018)
Faelicissime floret. La Garfagnana estense descritta da Antonio Vallisneri
(/isis/citation/CBB956459421/)
Book
Ovidio Montalbani;
Linda Bisello;
(2017)
Del vento e delle comete: Speculazioni accademiche
(/isis/citation/CBB450320639/)
Book
Francesco Saverio Tucci;
(2021)
«Con la mente con l'occhio e con la mano». Scienza e Natura in Antonio Vallisneri: i confini ideologici di un programma scientifico
(/isis/citation/CBB680699438/)
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