Exhibition
“Golgi, brain architect”
1906 – 2006: a cento anni dal primo nobel italiano
Pavia, 9 september– 19 december 2006
Nuovi Istituti Universitari, Via Ferrata, Località Cravino
Exibihit
The exhibition organised by the University of Pavia looks back at the history of Pavian biology. It is tradition that reached great heights in the 18th and 19th century with Antonio Scarpa, Lazzaro Spallanzani and Bartolomeo Panizza, culminating in the works of Cesare Lombroso and Giulio Bizzozero following the unification of Italy. Lombroso and Bizzozero also inspired the research of Camillo Golgi.
Having graduated in medicine in 1865, Golgi originally intended to become an honest doctor but soon discovered a vocation for scientific research that was inspired further by the contagious charm of Lombroso, with his eclectic personality and enthusiasm. Although he had enrolled in the medical faculty with the sole aim of obtaining his professional diploma to practise medicine, Golgi soon rejected simple patient care as his lifelong professional ideal. He became far more intrigued by the study of the brain and nervous phenomena. Nevertheless, Lombroso’s strange personality and methodological flaws soon revealed themselves to the meticulous Golgi; disappointed by Lombroso’s lack of scientific discipline, Golgi began attending the General Pathology Institute run by Giulio Bizzozero, a young revolutionary of Italian medicine whose emblem was the microscope. Under his guidance, Golgi, the future Nobel prizewinner, had a clear scientific itinerary to follow: the histological path to neurobiology.
Sections dedicated to Educational themes
The historical background is complemented by sections on educational themes that illustrate the key areas of Golgi’s research.
The first outlines the relationship between Golgi’s work and the latest developments in neuroscience.
The second section concerns Golgi’s contribution to infectiology, particularly his findings on the biology of the malaria parasite in human blood. Thanks to his ability to correlate the variability of haematological structures to the clinical form of the illness, Golgi was able to reveal the secret of fever intermittency. He demonstrated that fever attack derives from the ‘sporulation’ (reproduction) of the plasmodium (Golgi’s law).
The third section concerns cytology. It illustrates Golgi’s scientific work and displays documents on the discovery of the Internal Reticular Apparatus or Golgi’s apparatus.
Biography
The thread that outlines Golgi’s research intertwines with another on his biography, which displays key documents from his life and career. This provides a snapshot of science in Italy around the time of unification: developments in medical-biological positivism in Italy; the difficulties and opportunities of acquiring an original scientific education in the second half of the 19th century; and the role of universities in promoting research in post-unification Italy. This section also deals with Golgi’s political and administrative career at local (university rector, head of the Medical Faculty; Hygiene Counsellor for the municipality of Pavia) and national (Senator of the Kingdom of Italy from 1900 onwards) level.
The last part of the exhibition concentrates on Camillo Golgi’s school: some of the leading names in 19th and 20th century Italian biology trained or specialised at the General Pathology Institute. To name but a few: Emilio Veratti, who discovered the sarcoplasmatic reticulum; Adelchi Negri, who discovered the corpuscles in the brains of rabies-infected humans and animals that bear his name; Aldo Perroncito, whose investigations clarified the fundamental phases of peripheral-nerve regeneration following experimental lesions; Antonio Carini, who identified the Pneumocystis Carinii micro-organism attributed today to the frequency of pulmonary disease in Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome; and Battista Grassi, who discovered the Anopheles mosquito responsible for human malaria.
In addition to these direct students of Golgi’s school, the institute also enjoyed important scientific relations with numerous foreign scientists, some of whom spent scientific study periods there. These include: Albert von Koelliker, the father of 19th-century Histology; Fridtjof Nansen, the illustrious zoologist who learned histological techniques at Golgi’s laboratory to study the structure of the central nervous system (he later became a famous Polar explorer and won the Nobel peace prize in 1922); and Henry Herbert Donaldson, who selected the famous albino Wistar rats used in laboratories across the world.
Documents, anatomical preparations and hands-on experiments
Throughout the exhibition, visitors can admire anatomical preparations created in the late 18th century by masters of the Pavian anatomy school, ancient instruments, and original documents held today at the University of Pavia History Museum and the General Pathology Institute, where Golgi carried out his research for almost 50 years.
Hands-on experiments and multimedia installations will allow visitors to take part in neurocognitive experiences that demonstrate the subtle complexities of brain functions.
Psychophysical experiments and microscopic observations re-enacted from Golgi’s era will allow visitors to relive key moments in medical-biological science.
This is a journey through the world of science that will fascinate school students, who can learn about important episodes in the history of Italian science.
Location
The exhibition will be held in a new building in the Cravino area of the university campus, the science centre of the university. Called “Botta Due”, the building will house several medical and biological departments currently held in the centre of Pavia in Palazzo Botta, the historic location of Golgi’s laboratory.
PROJECT
University of Pavia
University Museum System
University of Pavia History Museum
Experimental Medicine Department: General Pathology Section; Histology and Embryology Section ‘A. Volta’ Physics Department
PARTNER INSTITUTES
Max Planck Institut für Wissenschaftsgeschichte, Berlin
University of Brescia
Golgi Foundation, Brescia
Pavia, Festival dei Saperi
PATRONAGE
The Senate of the Republic of Italy
Province of Pavia
Municipality of Pavia
Municipality of Abbiategrasso
Municipality of Corteno Golgi
Ufficio Scolastico Regionale per la Lombardia
FUNDING
Ministry of Education, Universities and Research
Lombard Regions
SPONSOR
The Shenker Institutes of English
ORGANISATION
Curator
Paolo Mazzarello
Scientific Committee
Luciana R. Angeletti (Università di Roma, "La Sapienza"), Marina Bentivoglio (Università di Verona), Fabio Bevilacqua (Università di Pavia), Alberto Calligaro (Università di Pavia), Paolo Mazzarello (Università di Pavia), Gustavo Merico (Comitato Nazionale - Opera Omnia G. B. Amici), Sergio Pecorelli (Università di Brescia e Fondazione Golgi), Marco Piccolino (Università di Ferrara), Pierfranco Spano (Università di Brescia e Fondazione Golgi), Angiolino Stella (Rettore dell'Università di Pavia, Presidente del Comitato Golgiano), Vanio Vannini (Università di Pavia), Nicholas J. Wade (Università di Dundee, Scozia)
Organisation Committee
Franca Banchieri, Marina Bertolotti, Grazia Bruttocao, Lea Cardinali, Patrizia Contardini, Lidia Falomo, Lucio Fregonese, Carla Garbarino
Collaborators
Luigi Cattaneo, Lorenzo Duico, Roberto Gaetano, Beppe Gullotta, Michele Belotti, Emanuela Michelon, Maria Pia Milani, Susanna Sora, Cristina Trevaini, Andrea Vai, Angela Volpi
Exhibition preparation
Enrico Valeriani with Francesco Ardizzone
Docufiction (55’)
La finestra al microscopio. Un dialogo impossibile con Camillo Golgi
Coproduzione Arcoscenico e BB&K
Italia 2005
Regia di Marco Kuveiller
Graphics
Ferro comunicazione design
Press office and secretarial office
Echo arte e comunicazione
Tel. 0382 301864/304578, fax 0382 533498
Catalogue
Skira Editore
Translation:
Catalogue by Marilena Cairns
The Shenker Institutes of English
Panels and website by Marilena Cairns
The Shenker Institutes of English
We wish to thank
The Honorary Committee and Organisation Committee for the Golgi Celebrations
In addition, we thank
Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei, Roma
Archivio Storico dell’Università di Pavia
ASCOM, Pavia
CNA, Pavia
Collegio Borromeo, Pavia
CSA di Pavia
Dipartimento di Medicina Legale e Sanità Pubblica dell’Università di Pavia
Fondazione Micheletti, Brescia
Instituto Cajal, Madrid
International Society for the History of the Neurosciences (ISHN)
Istituto Geriatrico “C. Golgi”, Abbiategrasso
Istituto Lombardo Accademia di Scienze e Lettere
Istituto Neurologico Mondino, Pavia
Istituto Superiore di Sanità
Istituzione Teatro Fraschini
Ministero per i Beni e le Attività Culturali – Biblioteca Universitaria di Pavia
Musei Civici del Castello Visconteo, Pavia
Museo di Antropologia Criminale, Torino
Orto Botanico dell’Università di Pavia
Parrocchia di Corteno Golgi
Policlinico S. Matteo, Pavia
Le scuole di Pavia:
Istituto di istruzione superiore Volta
Istituto magistrale Cairoli
Istituto tecnico industriale Cardano
Liceo classico Foscolo
Liceo scientifico Copernico
Liceo scientifico Olivelli
Liceo scientifico Taramelli
Emilia Benfante
Mario Coluzzi
Antonio Guaita
Letizia Guizzetti
Vittoria Kienerk
Don Ernesto Maggi
Giorgio Mellerio
Tiziana Nardo
Clementina Rovati