ESHS/HSS Annual Meeting

The Plural Worlds of Earth Science: Visual, Material, and Institutional Transformations Across Disciplines, Scales, and Territories 1

Session Submission Type: Organized Session

English Abstract

During the 19th century, Earth sciences experienced substantial advancements and the consolidation of technical applications. These developments not only expanded scientific knowledge but also influenced conceptualisations of territories, time scales, environmental risks, and the relationship between expertise and the management of natural resources. Many of these historical dynamics continue to inform contemporary debates. This symposium adopts a novel approach to the history of the Earth sciences by analysing in parallel the roles of iconography, musealisation, issues of scale and the institutionalisation of scientific fields. Integrating these dimensions shows how visual cultures, material practices, and emerging scientific institutions collectively shaped new understandings of geological and environmental space in the 19th century and beyond. Mining notebooks, technical drawings, textbooks and other visual records reveal new epistemologies of the subsoil and the conceptual frameworks they produced. Geological narratives and museum practices demonstrate how the Earth sciences contributed to the construction of shared scientific traditions, shaping cultural identities, and promoting scientific heritage across diverse institutional contexts. Volcanological research on both prominent and lesser-known figures shows how local fieldwork informed broader debates and supported the early consolidation of the discipline. Similarly, seismic cartography—through maps, catalogues, and collaborations with scientific and administrative organisations—shows how scientific tools mediated between archival knowledge, land management, and the interpretation of seismic landscapes. This session highlights the conceptual, visual, and material transformations through which geoscientific knowledge reshaped territorial imagination, environmental awareness, and the circulation of geological expertise, anticipating concerns that would later underpin discussions of the Anthropocene.

Sponsorship: INHIGEO - IUGS International Commission on the History of Geological Sciences, affiliated to DHST - IUHPST Division of History of Science and Technology

Sub Unit

• Organized Session

Chair

• Luigi Ingaliso, University of Catania

Individual Presentations

• Mining the Nation: Mining, Visual Knowledge, and Nation Building in the 19th Century - Maddalena Napolitani, Museo Galileo

• Italian Geology and the Geology of Italy: Earth Sciences and Nation-Building in Nineteenth- and Twentieth-Century Italy - Zoe Lauri, University of Bologna

• Drawing earthquakes: Mario Baratta and Torquato Taramelli. The birth of Italian seismic cartography through maps, archives, and public policy - Ciro Elio Junior Saltarelli, University of Urbino, Italy

Session Organizer

• Valentina Roberti, University of Catania