Les mathématiciens français et italiens du «siècle long»: 1700-1814 [The French and Italian Mathematicians of the «Long Century»: 1700-1814]

The mutual influence between the most original Italian and French mathematicians are investigated, from the early 18th century to the fall of Napoleon. The model of the Académie des sciences et belles lettres in Berlin was a winner over the French model of the Académie des sciences. Mathematicians in Italy, such as Boscovich, Malfatti, Mascheroni etc. continued to look mainly at the works of Johann and Daniel Bernoulli, Euler, and then Lagrange in Berlin. After Napoleon’s Italian Campaign, interactions in research between Italian and French mathematicians were prevalent, thanks also to the stay in Italy of Monge and Prony, of Lagrange in Paris and to the French exile of Mascheroni and Brunacci. The model adopted in Italy throughout the nineteenth century was that of the Institut de France of the Revolution and of Napoleon.

In questo lavoro si analizzano le reciproche relazioni tra matematici italiani e francesi. Si pone attenzione, in particolare, agli studi di Riccati e di Fagnano, questi ultimi hanno aperto la strada alle memorie di Eulero sugli integrali ellittici del metodo di Gabriele Manfredi per la soluzione delle equazioni differenziali omogenee di primo grado, ai rapporti di Lagrange con i matematici francesi e di Monge con gli studiosi italiani.