RICCIARDO Salvatore

I graduated in Philosophy from the University of Milan and obtained a PhD in History of Science at the University of Bergamo (2009/2010). From 2011 to 2016 I held a research fellowship at the same university, gaining experience in the history of early modern science, with particular attention to English experimental philosophy, the relationship between science and religion, and the circulation of Galilean ideas in Europe. I collaborated on the PRIN 2015 project Galileo’s Science and Myth in Europe between the 17th and 19th Centuries, within which I identified, in 2018 at the Royal Society Library, Galileo’s autograph letter to Benedetto Castelli dated 21 December 1613. This discovery led to the awarding of the SIF Prize for the History of Physics in 2020.

In 2018/2019 I served as Adjunct Professor of History of Science, and from 2019 to 2022 I was a Tenure-Track Researcher (RTDb) at the Department of Human and Social Sciences of the University of Bergamo. Over the course of my academic career I have held several institutional roles within the university: I am a member of the PhD Board in Human and Social Sciences (41st cycle) and previously served on the PhD Board in Transcultural Humanistic Studies for cycles 36–40. I was also a member of the Steering Committee of the Cisalpino Institute for Comparative Studies in Europe (CCSE) from 2020 to 2023, and I am currently a member of the University Disciplinary Board for the term 2025–2028.

My research focuses on early modern science, particularly 16th- and 17th-century English experimental philosophy, the work and reception of Robert Boyle, the origins of microscopy, and the development of corpuscular and medico-chemical theories. A significant part of my work concerns the experimental practices of the Royal Society and the relationship between science, theology, and culture in the seventeenth century, as reflected in my studies on Boyle, Hooke, and the debates on vacuum and air. In parallel, I investigate the European circulation of Galilean thought, with particular attention to the manuscript tradition of the Letter to Benedetto Castelli and its reception between Italy and England. My publications include monographs, critical editions, book chapters, and journal articles in Italian and international venues, exploring the intersection of experimental practice, cosmology, natural theology, and models of natural explanation in the age of the scientific revolution.

I am Book Review Editor of Galilæana. Studies in Renaissance and Early Modern Science (Museo Galileo) and a member of the Italian Society for the History of Science (SISS) and the Italian Physical Society (SIF).

CV updated on 5 December 2025