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Cristina Roccati or Aganice Aretusiana: lights and shadows of an 18th century physicist
An exhibition in Rovigo dedicated to the multifaceted figure of women in the 18th century between physics and poetry
An exhibition is always a good initiative to make people discover or learn more about people from the past.
Cristina Roccati was the third woman in the world to graduate, after Elena Lucrezia Cornaro Piscopia in 1678 in Padua and Laura Bassi in 1732 in Bologna. She can be said to be one of the scholars of her era who would slowly explode in numbers towards the end of the following century, thanks to official entry into universities.
She is remembered for her physics lectures at the Accademia dei Concordi in Rovigo, her home town. It is difficult to translate the prologue from one of her lectures (15 November 1751), as her life was not easy, but we will try, first because it gives an idea of her profound knowledge and interest in this discipline:
‘I will therefore treat Physics; […] and as much as I can, I will endeavour this evening to show you briefly how valuable…
