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Credit: Springer
The Hans R. Jenemann Foundation has awarded the Paul Bunge Prize 2011 to the Springer book Galileo Engineer by Matteo Valleriani. This prestigious prize honors outstanding publications dealing with the history of scientific instruments. The award will be presented at a Lecture Meeting of the German Chemical Society in Rostock, Germany, on September 14, 2011.
Galileo Engineer looks closely at the role of Galileo as a practical mathematician and engineer-scientist. The book focuses on his intellectual development within the framework of the interaction between natural philosophy and the challenging objects provided by technological developments. It analyzes Galileo's contribution to the practical science of machines as well as his role as a teacher involved in the contemporary art of war. Galileo's achievements were largely based on and influenced by practical knowledge from scientific disciplines and activities, without him ever becoming an expert in these disciplines.
Matteo Valleriani is a Permanent Research Fellow at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science in Berlin, Germany. His research focuses on ancient science and early modern science. His book Galileo Engineer also won the Marc-Auguste Pictet International Prize for outstanding quality in 2010.
The Paul Bunge Prize is awarded annually by the Hans R. Jenemann Foundation, which is administered by the German Chemical Society and the German Bunsen Society for Physical Chemistry. The award consists of 7,500 euros and honors outstanding publications dealing with the history of scientific instruments. The prize is named after the most important designer of precision balances in the second half of the 19th century, Paul Bunge.