Alessandro Serpieri and his seismographs: innovations in late nineteenth-century Italian seismology

Abstract

The paper examines the historical development and context of several seismographs preserved in the Physics Laboratory and Museum of Science and Technology at the University of Urbino Carlo Bo. In the second half of the nineteenth century, these instruments were used by Alessandro Serpieri (1823–1885), a Scolopian priest and a pioneer of Italian seismology. Following a brief biographical overview of the scientist, the study examines three principal instruments currently on display in the museum: the “protoseismograph” by Michele Stefano De Rossi (1878) and two seismographs designed by the Urbino-based instrument-maker Achille Scateni (c. 1882). In addition to these surviving instruments, the study also discusses a seismograph invented by Serpieri in 1873, known only through contemporary descriptions and illustrations. This study re-examines their history and mechanical functioning using archival documents, publications from the period, and direct analysis of the instruments, focusing on Luigi Palmieri’s influence on Serpieri’s seismograph design. It highlights the scientific heritage of Urbino’s Physics Laboratory and the pivotal collaboration between Serpieri and Scateni, locating their advancements in Italian instrumental seismology within the context of the birth of quantitative seismometry which complemented continuing observational methods in the late nineteenth century. In particular, it suggests how the interplay between local instrumental innovation and national scientific networks fostered the development of modern seismometry in Italy.