Federigo Enriques (1871-1946): A critical study of Lezioni di geometria proiettiva

Abstract

Federigo Enriques (1871-1946) was a protagonist of mathematical culture in the early twentieth century. The handbook prepared for one of his university courses at the University of Bologna, Lezioni di geometria proiettiva, constitutes probably the most representative work of his early teaching years. This book has influenced several Enriques' researches, and in particular those relating to the foundations of geometry. The use of the synthetic approach in setting up the handbook leads Enriques to a new arrangement of the contents. The proposed analysis explores this aspect, showing in particular the law of duality, the postulate of continuity and the fundamental theorem of projectivity, without neglecting the importance that Enriques attributes to the historical developments of mathematics.