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Article ID: CBB527869214

La biologia marina di Salvatore Trinchese nella seconda metà dell’Ottocento (2019)

Physis: Rivista Internazionale di Storia della Scienza
Volume: 54
Pages: 193-220
Publication date: 2019
Language: Italian

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The article retraces and presents the scientific activity of biologist Salvatore Trinchese (1836-1897), starting from his Paris studies with naturalists Blanchard and Milne-Edwards, followed by his subsequent research activities at the universities of Genoa, Bologna and Naples. His main field of study was the morphology, histology, embryology and systematics of mollusks, one of the four embranchements (or phyla) in the Cuvier classification of the animal kingdom, of which little was known. With his considerable skill and expertise in microscopic technique, he explored the histological structure of the nervous system of these “small marine animals” (addressing the issue of the so-called “motor plate”) and established a more articulated and complete taxonomy of these animals. He also studied the stages of their embryonic development and analysed cellular fertilisation and cell segmentation processes. This research was related to the problematic issue of “spontaneous generation,” a doctrine that Trinchese appeared to favour more for ideological and cultural rather than scientific reasons. Broadening his field of inquiry, he also became interested in primatology and examined some individuals of Orang-Utan for whom he had erroneously hypothesised the possibility of two distinct species, thereby drawing conclusions that could indirectly support the “evolutionary” theory of the derivation of man from the monkey. Trinchese was a laboratory scientist who avoided embarking on the general reflections of a philosophical and epistemological nature, which were often developed by many nineteenth century scientists. Nevertheless, he fell short of this reticence during his Inaugural Address delivered at the University of Bologna in 1873, at which he proved to be fully informed by the cultural climate of his time, and in line with the prevailing ideas of materialistic reductionism, scientism, inductivism, and evolutionism. However, despite embracing this ensemble of conceptions and values, he did not promote or disseminate them.

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