A Walk Through Mathematical Turin

The Mathematical
Intelligencer

ISSN 0343-6993
Volume 32
Number 4

Math Intelligencer (2010)

32:59-68
DOI 10.1007/
s00283-010-9136-9

1 23
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 Author's personal copy
The Mathematical Tourist Dirk Huylebrouck, Editor

Turin’s architecture will be of particular appeal to visitors

A Walk Through of mathematical inclination. The plan of the city is remark-
ably regular, revealing the work of Ancient Rome’s military

Mathematical Turin architects and the later influence of the eighteenth-century

French Enlightenment. The streets are usually wide and
straight, intersecting at right angles and punctuated with
SANDRO CAPARRINI public squares geometrically regular in shape. Most of the
historical buildings date back to the Baroque period. How-
ever, there is a streak of fine madness running through this
apparently tranquil and orderly city. Scattered throughout
Does your hometown have any mathematical tourists Turin there are some wildly imaginative, early twentieth-
century Art Nouveau buildings that rival those of Barcelona.
attractions such as statues, plaques, graves, the cafe´
One of the weirdest examples of eccentricity in architecture
where the famous conjecture was made, the desk where is the Casa Scaccabarozzi, popularly called Fetta di polenta
(‘‘Slice of polenta’’) because of its yellow color, designed by
the famous initials are scratched, birthplaces, houses, or the architect Alessandro Antonelli in 1881 (Fig. 1). This five-
storey building stands on a tiny right triangle having one side
memorials? Have you encountered a mathematical sight (along Corso San Maurizio) of 4 m and the hypotenuse
(along Via Giulia di Barolo) of 21 m. If you happen to be in
on your travels? If so, we invite you to submit an essay to
Turin, this little gem is worth a visit.
this column. Be sure to include a picture, a description
of its mathematical significance, and either a map or

directions so that others may follow in your tracks.

ntil recent years, Turin (Torino) had the dubious

U distinction of being one of the few historic Italian

cities rarely visited by tourists. Its traditional image
was that of an industrial area, mainly known for the
automobile industry and related activities. Yet there are
many things that make Turin stand apart from other Italian
cities. While most of the places of interest in Italy are histor-
ically connected with Roman history or with the Renaissance,
Turin flourished during the nineteenth century, when it
became an example of economy propelled by science and
technology. The rich cultural heritage of the city is reflected in
the varieties of its museums. Turin has one of the few
automobile museums in the world, and an Egyptian museum
displaying what is perhaps the oldest collection of its kind.
There is also a spectacular cinema museum showing that,
before World War I, this was one of the most important
centers of the cinema industry in Europe.

â Please send all submissions to Mathematical Tourist Editor,

Dirk Huylebrouck, Aartshertogstraat 42,
8400 Oostende, Belgium
e-mail: dirk.huylebrouck@gmail.com Figure 1. The Fetta di polenta.

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While to mathematically minded people Turin is usually
associated with Joseph-Louis Lagrange (1736–1813), many
other important figures in the history of mathematics also
spent long periods here. Indeed, the Turin scientific school
ranks high in Italy. As early as the second half of the six-
teenth century, Giovanni Battista Benedetti (1530–1590), an
important forerunner of Galileo in mechanics, was court
mathematician to the Duke of Savoy. In the eighteenth
century the physicist Giambattista Beccaria (1716–1781),
one of the founders of the scientific study of electricity and
a correspondent of Benjamin Franklin, was a professor at
the university of Turin; Lagrange, the greatest scientist
Turin ever produced, was one of his students. Physics and
chemistry in Turin are also well represented by the Abbé
Nollet (1700–1770), who came to Turin in 1739, and by
Amedeo Avogadro (1776–1856), known for the Avogadro
number. Among nineteenth-century mathematicians who
worked in Turin there were Giovanni Plana (1781–1864),
Augustin-Louis Cauchy (1789–1857) and Luigi Federico
Menabrea (1809–1896). Around the turn of the century, the
most productive period for mathematics in Turin, the
names of Giuseppe Peano (1858–1932), Mario Pieri (1860–
1913), Corrado Segre (1863–1924), Vito Volterra (1860–
1940) and Cesare Burali-Forti (1861–1931) must be cited. In
the twentieth century there were Guido Fubini (1879–1943)
and Francesco Tricomi (1897–1978). A lively description of
the University of Turin in 1900 was given by J. L. Coolidge
[1]. There are many interesting remarks on the intellectual
life in fin de sie`cle Turin in the books by H. C. Kennedy [2], Figure 2. The statue of Lagrange.
E. Marchisotto and J. T. Smith [3] and J. R. Goodstein [4].
Today, some traces of the past mathematical glories of
Turin are still visible. Since Turin is not a large city and its
centre is best explored on foot, we suggest taking a stroll are warned that most of the city center is closed to traffic
past its mathematical points of interest. This is best done on during the day.
weekdays, since some of the places are closed on week- The walk starts at Porta Nuova railway station. As you
ends. The main part of the walk is about 2 km long and stand in Piazza Carlo Felice, with the façade of the station
takes almost a full day to complete. If you wish, you can of behind you, walk under the arcades along the right side of
course divide this walk into several separate trips. Motorists the square. The first narrow road on the right leads to a small
square, the Piazzetta Lagrange. In the centre of the square
stands the monument to Lagrange (who else?). The monu-
.........................................................................
ment was conceived and sculpted by the Piedmontese artist
Giovanni Albertoni in 1867. The statue shows Lagrange as
SANDRO CAPARRINI holds degrees in
AUTHOR

a middle-aged man, standing upright, slightly stooping,

Physics and in Mathematics and a Ph.D. in wearing an old-fashioned waistcoat. He is gazing downward,
Mathematics from the University of Turin. apparently immersed in profound thoughts. His arms hang
However, all of his work has been in the down; he has a quill pen in his right hand and a manuscript in
history of mathematics. His research is mainly his left. There are four books at his feet, perhaps representing
focused on the interaction between math- the treatises he published late in life. Although not a great
ematics and mechanics from 1750 onward. work of art, the statue is a simple but effective depiction of a
In 2004 he was awarded the Slade Prize quiet and bookish man (Fig. 2).
from the British Society for the History of Leave Piazzetta Lagrange at its upper right-hand (north-
Science. east) corner. Walk along Via Lagrange for a couple of blocks.
At No. 29, on the so-called piano nobile, (i.e., the storey
Institute for the History and Philosophy immediately above the ground floor) Lagrange was born on
of Science and Technology January 25, 1736 (Fig. 3). A simple commemorative plaque
Victoria College 316 recalls the figure of the illustrious mathematician (Fig. 4).
91 Charles St. West The façade of the building has been carefully restored, so that
Toronto M5S 1K7 it is not difficult to imagine how the place looked in the
Canada eighteenth century. Unfortunately, Lagrange’s apartment,
E-mail: caparrini@libero.it now in private hands, has been remodelled since then.

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Figure 3. The house where Lagrange was born, showing the Figure 4. Close-up of Lagrange’s plaque.
commemorating plaque.

From Lagrange’s home, continue walking down Via

Lagrange in the same direction until you reach the end of the
street, at the intersection with Via Maria Vittoria. Pause for a
moment to admire on the right the Baroque Chiesa di San
Filippo, where Lagrange was christened, then turn your atten-
tion to the seventeenth-century building on your left, the
Collegio dei Nobili. Any tour guide will tell you that this is the
location of the Egyptian Museum and of the Galleria Sabauda,
both requisite stops for tourists. For us, this building is impor-
tant as the location of the Turin Academy of Science (Fig. 5).
The Academy was founded in 1757 by Lagrange together
with two friends, the physician and physicist Giovanni
Francesco Cigna (1734–1790) and Count Angelo Saluzzo di
Monesiglio (1734–1810). A few kindred spirits joined this
initial group in the years that followed. At first, this was an
informal institution, devoted essentially to discussing the Figure 5. The Collegio dei Nobili.
works and readings of its own members, and was thus called
Società privata (‘‘Private society’’). The members met at the
house of the Count of Saluzzo. In 1759 the Society began Antoine Nicolas de Caritat Marquis de Condorcet (1743–
publishing a scientific journal, originally entitled Miscellanea 1794), Leonhard Euler (1707–1783), Albrecht Haller (1708–
Philosophico-Mathematica Societatis Privatae Taurinensis. 1777), Pierre Simon Laplace (1749–1827), Gaspard Monge
After 14 years, five volumes had been completed; these ini- (1746–1818) and, of course, Lagrange himself. Shortly after
tiated the long series of Me´langes, Me´moires and Atti that the publication of the Miscellanea, the Society obtained the
have spread the fame of the earlier Society and later Academy permission to add the adjective reale (‘‘royal’’) to its name.
throughout the world of science. Among the contributors to Finally, the creation of an Academy under royal patronage
these early volumes were some of the leading scientists of the was suggested to the King; it was formalized on 25 July 1783.
time: Jean le Rond d’Alembert (1717–1783), Marie Jean Lagrange, then in Berlin, was elected honorary president.

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Figure 6. Plana’s monument in the Palazzo dei Nobili. Figure 7. The Genocchi bust.

The Academy’s location also deserves attention. The the same sculptor who made the monument to Lagrange.
Collegio dei Nobili, a wonderful example of seventeenth- These two statues give you an idea of how mathematicians
century Italian baroque architecture, was built between 1679 were viewed at the end of the nineteenth century.
and 1687 by the great architect Guarino Guarini (1624–1683) Immediately before the statue of Plana there is a bust of
as a school for the sons of nobles. (In fact, behind this project Angelo Genocchi (1817–1889), professor of analysis at the
was a Jesuit plan to infiltrate the centres of political power in University of Turin from 1865 to 1884, now remembered
Piedmont.) After the suppression of the Jesuits in 1773, the mainly for a polemic with Peano (Fig. 7). In 1883, Peano,
building passed to the state, and in 1784 King Vittorio Ame- still Genocchi’s assistant, was given the task of writing a
deo III designated it as the seat of the new Academy. textbook based on the professor’s lectures. But Peano did not
Now that you are at the Collegio dei Nobili, go to the limit himself to merely transcribing what the professor had
point at which Via Maria Vittoria meets Piazza San Carlo. said. With youthful enthusiasm, he added several pages of
Here, a plaque on the wall indicates that ‘‘Giovanni Plana, endnotes full of important observations and ingenious
while living in this building, composed the theory of counterexamples. Unfortunately, these remarks had the
the movement of the moon between 1807 and 1832.’’ The collateral effect of undermining many of Genocchi’s proofs.
astronomer and mathematician Giovanni Plana, author of Obviously Genocchi was not happy with the result. Infuri-
the The´orie du mouvement de la lune (1832) was once ated, he sent a letter to several mathematical journals
considered the most important Italian scientist of his time. renouncing authorship of the final text. Today the Genocchi-
The The´orie was an attempt to improve the approximations Peano is considered one of the most significant textbooks on
Laplace had devised for the movements of the moon; it analysis ever published. History has not been kind to
consists of three massive volumes full of incredibly long Genocchi, who, while not on the same level as Peano, was in
and complicated formulae. effect a rigorous mathematician for his time.
If you want to become better acquainted with Plana, enter To visit the Academy it is necessary to request permission
the Collegio through its main entrance in Via Accademia a couple of months in advance; send an email to biblioteca@
delle Scienze, then go all the way to the back of the atrium accademia.csi.it. The Academy is open to visitors from 9 am
and turn left along the corridor. After a few meters, you will to 1 pm and from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m., Monday to Friday.
find on your left a slightly larger than life statue of Plana. The The entrance to the Academy is a small door on Via
famous astronomer is shown in his old age, sitting in an Maria Vittoria 3. While the entire Academy extends over
armchair, a book in his hand, a pensive look on his face several floors, its core consists of three salons. The main
(Fig. 6). The statue was made in 1870 by Giovanni Albertoni, room is called the Sala dei Mappamondi (Fig. 8). Imagine a

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The Military Academy was founded in 1678 primarily as a
school for the pages and nobles of the court. There were many
changes before it assumed its definitive form in 1815. The rules
of 1692 explain how, other than mathematics and design, stu-
dents would learn how to ride horses, how to joust, how to
handle weapons, and how to dance. To become perfect gen-
tlemen, the young men were also encouraged to participate in
court festivals. The rules of 1754 indicate that the Academy
accepted men and boys between 10 and 30 years of age, divi-
ded into three groups. The first consisted of true cadets, the
second, of university students who took part in only some of the
activities of the Academy, and the third was made up of
younger boys. The success of this institution may be judged by
the fact that many of the students came from abroad. There is a
vivid description of life in the Academy around 1760 in the
Figure 8. The Sala dei Mappamondi. (photo: Marco Saroldi)
autobiography of the dramatist Vittorio Alfieri (1749–1803).
Military academies were among the best places to learn
mathematics during the eighteenth century. In the period
large space having approximately the structure of a church, when Lagrange taught there, the Military Academy of Turin
complete with apses, columns and frescoes. However there offered courses in arithmetic, algebra, plane and solid
is no altar, and the walls are almost completely covered geometry, trigonometry, surveying, mechanics, hydrostat-
with shelves of old books. This arrangement of the rooms, ics and the elements of calculus. (Lagrange’s Turin lectures
dating back to the foundation of the Academy, is the work on calculus have been published in [6].) The founders of
of the architect Mario Ludovico Quarini. It is a remarkable the renowned École Polytechnique in Paris were inspired
example of architecture in the service of science rather than by military academies, and this institution, in turn, became
of religion. Also of interest are the frescoes, painted between the model for West Point.
1786 and 1787 by Giovannino Galliari, all depicting scientific Lagrange was not the only mathematician of importance to
subjects. The mathematical tourist should look for the por- teach at the Military Academy of Turin. After him came, among
traits of Pythagoras and Euclid over the two entrances to the others, Plana, Menabrea, Peano, and Burali-Forti. Any univer-
second room, each recognizable from appropriate geometric sity would be proud of such a faculty of professors.
symbols. The ruins of the Military Academy take only a few minutes
Leaving the Collegio dei Nobili, follow Via Maria Vittoria to explore, but the next building on our tour would require
as far as the intersection with Via Carlo Alberto, then turn hours or days to be fully appreciated. Turning onto Via Po,
left and go on until you reach number 10. This is the turn right and walk toward Piazza Castello. On the far side of
main entrance to Palazzo Campana, a seventeenth-century the piazza, just to the right of Via Palazzo di Città, you will find
building which now houses the modern Department of the Church of San Lorenzo, one of Guarini’s masterpieces.
Mathematics of the University of Turin. In October of 2008, We already encountered the Theatine priest Guarini when
the Department was renamed in memory of Giuseppe discussing the Turin Academy of Science. While he is justly
Peano, who taught there for about 40 years. Like many old considered one of the major architects of the seventeenth
buildings, Palazzo Campana hides a few secrets. Under century, it would not be a stretch at all to call him a mathema-
Fascism it became the Casa Littoria, the provincial head- tician turned architect. Had he not designed a few innovative
quarters of the party; underneath it remain the hiding buildings, he would be remembered today as the author of
places in which the city leaders could take refuge in the
event of air strikes during the war.
Since you are interested in the history of mathematics,
you will probably want to visit the Library of the Depart-
ment, which houses many old books of great interest. Not
far from Palazzo Campana, on the right-hand side of Piazza
Carlo Alberto, there is also the Biblioteca Nazionale, a real
treasure-trove of rare and important texts. A description of
the riches of Turin libraries can be found in the catalogue of
an exposition held in 1987 [5].
From Piazza Castello, take Via Po, keeping to the left.
Turn left at the first intersection with Via Giovanni Virginio.
A few steps later, you will arrive at Piazzetta Accade-
mia Militare. Here you will find a line of columns, all that
remains after the bombing in the last war of the Turin
Military Academy, where Lagrange taught analysis and
mechanics from 1755 to 1766 (Fig. 9). A plaque on the wall
succinctly recounts the history of the site. Figure 9. The old Turin Military Academy, circa 1890.

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several excellent texts on pure and applied mathematics. His
Euclides adauctus (‘‘Euclid Augmented,’’ 1671), summarizes a
good part of the mathematical knowledge of the seventeenth
century, while his Coelestis mathematica (‘‘Celestial Mathe-
matics,’’ 1683) is a kind of astronomical encyclopedia. On a
slightly different note, his Placita philosophica, physicis ratio-
nibus, experientiis, mathematicisque ostensa (‘‘Philosophical
Thoughts Demonstrated by Means of Physical Reasoning,
Experiments and Mathematics,’’ 1665) is mostly a reflection on
scientific methodology. All these works demonstrate a
remarkable knowledge of the mathematics of that time. The
Euclides adauctus, for example, contains a reference to
the then recent descriptive geometry of Desargues. In many
respects, Guarini is comparable to his contemporary Christo-
pher Wren, who, like him, was both a great architect and an
important scientist.
Visiting one of Guarini’s buildings is like entering a giant
three-dimensional geometric construction. The plan of San
Lorenzo is a curvilinear octagon formed from the intersection
of eight circles around a central area (Fig. 10). Looking up,
you will see a cupola, parabolic in cross-section, criss-cros-
sed by ribs that, seen from below, form abstract polygons. As
interesting as this superimposition of geometrical forms may

Figure 11. Interior of San Lorenzo.

be, it gives only a hint of just how complicated the structure of

the church really is. In fact, if you look harder, you will begin
to see many unusual things (Fig. 11). You might notice, for
example, that the oval windows in the cupola are so large
that they compromise its stability. Lowering your gaze to
ground level, you will become aware that the columns are
too slender to support the enormous weight of the mass
overhead. And if this weren’t enough, the arches that appear
to hold up the entire weight of the building are perforated
with holes just where the keystones should be, that is, exactly
where the weight of the arches should bear down on the
columns. In essence, most of what you see is fake. The col-
umns and arches do not support anything. The real weight-
bearing structure is hidden inside the walls; even today,
researchers are not sure exactly how it works. This double
structure, one visible but false, and the other real but hidden,
is typical of Guarini, as are the secret stairways, the hidden
frescoes and the complicated system of passages in the space
between the internal and external cupolas. Within the
Church of San Lorenzo lurk enough eccentricities to delight
the readers of historical mysteries like Umberto Eco’s The
Foucault Pendulum.
As you leave San Lorenzo, look to the left. Above the
roofs of the Palazzo Reale you will see the spiral steeple of
the Church of the Holy Shroud (1694), another of Guarini’s
works. The Church of the Holy Shroud, one of the major
masterpieces of Baroque architecture, is mainly known
because it is home to the sheet in which, according to
Figure 10. Ground plan of San Lorenzo. tradition, the body of Christ was wrapped after the

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crucifixion. The structure of this church was even more
complicated than that of San Lorenzo. What you see today,
though, is only an empty shell: The inside was completely
destroyed by a fire in 1997.
From Piazza Castello, retrace your steps back to Via Po. At
number 17 you will find the entrance of the old Palazzo
dell’Università. This is the place where distinguished math-
ematicians, such as Cauchy, Volterra and Peano, gave their
lectures. The Palazzo was built between 1712 and 1720 under
the direction of the architect Michaelangelo Garove. King
Vittorio Amedeo II decided to modernize university studies
in Piedmont, and the new edifice was to be the tangible
marker of this reform. Thanks to teachers such as Beccaria
and the Abbé Nollet, in a few years the University of Turin
became an important centre for physics. This tradition con-
tinued in the following century: Avogadro and Cauchy
taught fisica sublime (‘‘sublime physics’’) in Turin, corre-
sponding more or less with modern theoretical physics.
The courtyard of the Palazzo dell’Università is another
interesting site for mathematical tourists. Starting around
1860, a collection of busts of a number of the most celebrated
professors of the University of Turin began to be assembled,
following the example of the collections of statues of famous
Italians displayed in the arcades of the Uffizi Museum in
Florence. Today, the names of these once famous professors
are little known, and one feels a twinge of sadness upon
contemplating these busts gathering dust. The mathemati-
cians collected here are not among the most important,
confirmation that fame can play strange tricks. There are the
effigies of Beccaria, Avogadro, Felice Chiò (1813–1871),
Tommaso Valperga Caluso (1737–1815), Carlo Ignazio Giu-
lio (1803–1859), Plana and Genocchi. The busts are arranged Figure 12. The Fibonacci numbers on the Mole.
along the side walls, on two floors. Entrance is free, though
the Palazzo dell’Università is now home to the Rector’s offi-
ces, restricting its hours to between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. way up (about 170 m). On a fine day, the view from the top
Turn again toward Via Po and follow it in the direction of is impressive.
the river. On the other side of the street, just one block from However, mathematical tourists will perhaps be more
the Palazzo dell’ Università, you will spot the façade of the interested in another, more eye-catching feature of the Mole.
Church of the San Franceso da Paola. Construction of the Displayed on the south side of the dome is the Fibonacci
church was begun in 1632 and was completed by the end of sequence executed in red neon, each number about 2 m
the century. It is a fine specimen of Baroque architecture, high (Fig. 12). This is the work of one of the most distin-
but for us its real interest lies elsewhere: according to Antonio guished Italian postwar artists, Mario Merz (1925–2003).
Maria Vassalli Eandi (1761-1825), an early biographer of Merz was fascinated, almost obsessed, by the Fibonacci
Lagrange, this is the birthplace of the calculus of variations sequence, in which he saw a ‘‘spiraliform mathematical
[7, p. 50]. Vassalli Eandi writes that in 1755 Lagrange, then organisation that differs from the Renaissance perspective
only 19 years old, while assisting at Mass in the church, was and is organic’’ [7, p. 200]. He used the sequence in many of
inspired by the music to create the delta algorithm. He went his works, beginning in the late 1960s, most notably on the
home immediately to write down the result, which he then chimney of the Turku Power Station in Turku, Finland, in
sent to Euler on 12th August 1755. Today, anyone seriously 1994 (see [8]) and outside the Zentrum fur Internationale
interested in mathematics will gladly spend a few minutes in Lichtkunst (International Center for Light Art) in Unna,
contemplation of the church. Germany, in 2001. The story of the Turin installation began
Continue along Via Po until you reach the intersection in 1984, when Merz presented the Fibonacci sequence as
with Via Montebello. Turn left on Via Montebello and look part of an art exhibition held at the Mole. When, in 2000,
up: There before you stands the stately Mole Antonelliana, Merz was requested to contribute to the ‘‘Luci d’Artista,’’ an
designed by Antonelli in 1862. Since the Mole is mentioned open-air exhibition of large-scale light installations by Italian
in every guidebook and in every tourist brochure about artists, held every year in Turin during the winter, he again
Turin, it hardly needs comment here. Suffice it to say that it submitted his old project.
is an absolute must for anyone visiting Turin, particularly The Fibonacci sequence on the Mole has already
now that it houses the Cinema Museum. It is an exciting become a new symbol of the city. The sequence is invisible
experience to take the elevator with the glass floor all the in daylight; to see it, come here after dusk and approach

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From copy
Beccaria’s obelisk it is only 10 minutes’ walk to the
last point of interest. Turn west and go to Via San Donato.
At number 31 you will find the Institute of Faà di Bruno,
built by Francesco Faà di Bruno (1825–1888).
Faà di Bruno was a remarkable man by any standard
(Fig. 14). He came from an old Piedmontese family; after
receiving his primary education at the Military Academy, he
went to the Sorbonne, where he graduated under Cauchy.
Then he became in turn a soldier, a cartographer, a com-
poser, a mathematician, an inventor, a social reformer, an
architect, a publisher and, finally, a Catholic priest. Some-
how he managed to be successful in all of his enterprises.
He also created a religious order of nuns that still exists
today, the Suore Minime di Nostra Signora del Suffragio. In
1988 the Church formally approved his veneration with his
beatification by Pope John Paul II. While there are many
books available about Faà di Bruno, there is no satisfactory
overall treatment of his many achievements. The best single
source available is a recent collection of essays [9].
Faà di Bruno’s work as a social reformer is extraordinary.
He was particularly concerned with women’s problems: For
instance, the welfare of teenaged mothers and of servant
women fired when they became old. To help them, Faà di
Bruno created an institution dedicated to providing these
women with respectable work and housing. Bit by bit he
added other activities: A retirement home for old washer-
women, a school for female teachers, a high school. Faà di
Bruno had a modest apartment here, in which he kept his
books and his collection of scientific instruments.
When we look at Faà di Bruno’s variety of interests and
duties, we cannot but wonder how he could find the time
Figure 13. The obelisk commemorating Beccaria. to do serious work in mathematics. His favorite topic of
research was the algebra of invariants according to the
the Mole from the south. However, you can get a better
view of the Fibonacci sequence from the hills surrounding
Turin, especially from the Monte dei Cappuccini, on the
other side of the River Po.
The next stop on our tour is at a rather demanding
distance to be reached by walking. Go back to Via Po and
take tram number 13 toward Piazza Castello. Stay on the
tram until the stop just after Porta Susa railway station, in
Piazza Statuto. A few metres away, in the middle of the little
gardens in the southern part of the piazza, you will find the
monument to Giambattista Beccaria.
Aside from the aforementioned experiments on elec-
tricity, from 1760 to 1764 Beccaria busied himself with
measurements of an arc of meridian in Piedmont. These
measurements were important not only for the production
of an accurate geographical map, but also to precisely
evaluate the flattening of the earth and, consequently, to
verify Newton’s theories. Beccaria published his own results
in the Gradus Taurinensis (1774), a book that was widely
discussed throughout Europe. To have a base for his trian-
gulations, Beccaria measured with extreme precision a
distance of about 8 kilometers. The end points of this seg-
ment were marked by signs on two slabs of marble. In 1808,
two obelisks topped with armillary spheres were raised near
these slabs in memory of Beccaria and his measurements
(Fig. 13). They were one of the first examples of monu-
ments dedicated to pure science. Oddly enough, to some
people who dabble in esotericism, the obelisks are now
considered to possess magical significance. Figure 14. Francesco Faà di Bruno (1825–1888).

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capsule, preserved exactly as they were in the 1880s, with
his hat and his cane still lying on the table. (It is an
unsettling experience to look at a photograph of Faà di
Bruno taken immediately after his death and, at the same
time, to stand in front of the very chair where his corpse
was laid out.) One entire wall of his living room consists of
bookshelves full of classics of mathematics (Fig. 15).
Among the other exhibits on display is a fine collection of
teaching aids for physics, chemistry and mathematics, and
even some rare cameras from the 1860s. The Faà di Bruno
Museum can be visited only by appointment. Call or fax
+39-011-489145, or send an e-mail to centrodistudi@faa-
dibruno.com. For more information, see the website
www.faadibruno.com.
In the middle of the complex of buildings making up the
Istituto stands the campanile (i.e., the bell tower), a 75-m-
Figure 15. Faà di Bruno’s apartment. high edifice with yellow and white walls, designed by Faà
di Bruno himself and erected in 1876 (Fig. 16). The cam-
views of Cayley, Salmon and Sylvester. He wrote one of the panile is made up of three different parts: A lower square
best textbooks on the subject, the The´orie des formes section, a middle octagonal section, and, at the top, a
binaires (1876), which was also translated into German circular steeple. With its vivid colors and unusual forms, it
(1881). Today, Faà di Bruno is best known in connection contrasts strongly with the plain architecture of its sur-
with a complicated formula which gives the n-th derivative roundings. The architectural style of the campanile is
of composite functions (1857). difficult to describe, since it shows several different influ-
When Faà di Bruno died, the nuns did what they could ences. Some of its design features were probably inspired
to keep his memory alive, preserving his home and per- by the Gothic Revival style that was popular at the time it
sonal effects for future generations. His apartment is now was built. However, its overall appearance is quite different
a fascinating little museum, one not ordinarily seen by from other buildings of the same period.
tourists. Faà di Bruno’s rooms are almost like a time At first sight, the campanile appears much too tall and
narrow to be stable—the base is a square of only 5 m by 5 m—
especially considering that it was built at a time when rein-
forced concrete had not yet been discovered. It is not
surprising that, originally, the project caused many objections.
However, the building turned out to be structurally sound.
Indeed, it was so sturdy that the only damage it suffered
during the bombings of World War II was the loss of the angel
decorating the top. The secret of this stability lies in the cam-
panile’s innovative structure. Most notably, the belfry is not
located at the top of the campanile, but 35 m up, or a little over
halfway to the top. It is composed of 32 cast iron columns.
These columns are a particularly unusual feature, since the use
of cast iron in construction was almost unheard of when the
tower was built. The belfry columns serve to join the upper
and lower parts of the tower, making the campanile roughly
equivalent to two rigid bodies connected by a spring. Unless
an external force is periodic, with a period close to the natural
frequency of the system, any dangerous oscillation will be
rapidly attenuated. This mechanism for ensuring stability was
then completely new, a triumph of applied mathematics.
If you are still in the mood for mathematical memora-
bilia, you might want to take a look at the monument
dedicated to the mathematical physicist Galileo Ferraris
(1847–1897). Ferraris is mainly known for his work on the
technical application of electricity, but he also wrote one of
the first treatises on vector calculus (1895). The monument
was made in 1903 by the sculptor Luigi Contratti. It is sit-
uated at the intersection of Corso Montevecchio and Corso
Trieste, quite a long way from our main itinerary. On the
pedestal there are two bas-reliefs, showing Ferraris meeting
Figure 16. The campanile. Helmholtz (1891) and Edison (1893). The bronze figure of a

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 Author's personal copy
naked woman on the front side, representing the Electric [2] Kennedy, Hubert Collings. 1980. Peano: Life and Works of
Science, was considered quite risqué in its time. Giuseppe Peano. Dordrecht: Reidel.
We are now at the end of our walk. This guide to his- [3] Marchisotto, Elena Ann and James T. Smith. 2007. The Legacy of
torical-mathematical Turin was written in the hope of being Mario Pieri in Geometry and Arithmetic. Dordrecht: Reidel.
as informative as possible. But, for a few hours, why not go [4] Goodstein, Judith R. 2007. The Volterra Chronicles: The Life and
off the beaten track? With its many cultural attractions, Times of an Extraordinary Mathematician, 1860–1940, Providence,
Turin will amply repay even a casual exploration. RI: American Mathematical Society; London: London Mathematical
Society.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS [5] Giacardi, Livia and Clara Silvia Roero, eds. 1987. Biblioteca
I gratefully acknowledge the information about Faà di Bruno mathematica: documenti per la storia della matematica nelle
supplied by the Suore Minime di Nostra Signora del Suffragio. biblioteche torinesi. Turin: Allemandi.
For her assistance with the illustrations, my thanks go to Cri- [6] Borgato, Maria Teresa and Luigi Pepe. 1987. Lagrange a Torino e
stina Palermo. I also wish to thank Prof. Livia Giacardi le sue lezioni inedite nelle R. Scuole di Artiglieria. Pp. 3–200 in
(University of Turin) for her support. Bollettino di Storia delle Scienze Matematiche 7.
[7] Eccher, Danilo, ed. 1995. Mario Merz. Turin: Hopefulmonster.
[8] Gyllenberg, Mats and Karl Sigmund. 2000. The Fibonacci Chim-
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[1] Coolidge, Julian Lowell. 1904. The Opportunities for Mathematical 2000).
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