The Accademia del Cimento: Art and Experimental Science

This room contains many instruments utilized in research conducted by the members of the Accademia del Cimento. Founded in 1657 by Grand Duke Ferdinando II and Prince Leopoldo de' Medici, it was the first European society exclusively devoted to science, preceding the foundation of the Royal Society in London (1660) and the Académie Royale des Sciences in Paris (1666). Following in the footsteps of Galileo, the Cimento conducted experiments to verify some principles of natural philosophy hitherto universally accepted on the basis of Aristotle's authority. The Academy concluded its work in 1667 by publishing the Essays on natural experiments, summarizing its activity. Significant results were attained in observations of Saturn, and above all in the fields of barometry and thermometry (here we see the superb thermometers and glass instruments used by the Academy). Numerous experiments were designed to verify the possibility of creating a vacuum in nature, and observing its effects on animals and objects.