Laura Bassi

Laura Maria Caterina Bassi Verati (or Veratti) (1711-1778) was perhaps the most famous woman professor at the University of Bologna. She was a brilliant Reader in Philosophy and, although she had several children, continued her academic work, being appointed in 1776 to the Chair of Experimental Physics at the Institute of Sciences founded by Marsili. She was considered by her contemporaries to be a woman of extraordinary intellect, an expert of equal worth in Latin, Logic, Metaphysics, Natural Philosophy, Algebra, Geometry, Greek and French. She was in contact with the most important scholars of her time, from Volta to Voltaire, and when passing through Bologna famous people of the period asked to meet her. It was difficult for a woman, even during the Enlightenment, to be a scientist, a professor, an eminent cultural thinker, a wife and mother. She was on the receiving end of numerous criticisms, from scientific attacks to personal gossip, including the allegation that in order to look after her family she had neglected her publications. However, Laura Bassi's scientific papers (one on Chemistry, thirteen on Physics, eleven on Hydraulics, two on Mathematics, one on Mechanics and one on Technology), housed today in the Academy of Sciences in Bologna, testify to the role she played in the scientific work of her age.

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