Historical path

Exibihition

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.