Descriptive Geometry in Italy in the 19th Century: Spread, Popularization, Teaching

The spread of descriptive geometry in Italy began in the years of the French occupation (1796-1813) and continued during the Restoration, mainly through military schools and universities. In the same years, in Italy, the first technical-professional schools (public and private) were founded. Elementary descriptive geometry (theoretical and/or graphical) was taught in many of these schools, which played a key role in the popularization of this subject. In the first decades of 19th century Italy, after France, “was the European country that, before all others, had provided original contributions in the field of descriptive geometry”. After the unification and the creation of the Kingdom of Italy (1861) a new model for the universities and secondary education was created. The tradition that began at the time of the French invasion continued in the universities even in the united Italy. On the contrary, in secondary schools, after a major attempt to reform made in 1871, the teaching of descriptive geometry was gradually neglected. This chapter focuses attention on the main aspects of the spread, popularization and teaching of descriptive geometry in Italy during the 19th century. In the first part, we consider the era before unification (1796-1861). In the second part, we analyze the period after unification (1861-1923), with particular regard to the phenomenon of the lack of interest in teaching of descriptive geometry at secondary education level.