Mariagrazia Costa

Surface potential and non-ionic surfactants

Summary Surface potential measurements on water solutions of non-ionic polyoxyethylene surfactants were performed by the ionization method. The surface potential was sensitive to very small quantities (1×10−2 p.p.m.) of these surfactants in solution. This was also true when moderate quantities of electrolytes (CaCl2) or of ionic surfactants (sodium dodecylsulphate) were added to the solutions. The method may be utilized in the water pollution field; for instance to control the efficiency of water purification plants in industries employing non-ionic surfactants.

Chemists in the Period of the University of Florence (1946–Present)

Having reached the start of the sixth chapter, we provide a useful gloss to underscore the intellectual honesty owed to those readers who are less knowledgable of the subject at hand. We are aware that, in presenting this chapter, encompassing the contemporary scene at the Department of Chemistry of the University of Florence, we may highlight certain facets of the story regarded by some as unimportant, or we may pass over certain episodes where a further story needed to be told. However, we believe it necessary not to wait for the material addressed to settle down, while real lives remain in motion—we hope that we made the correct editorial choices and decisions.

Chemists in the Period of the Lyceum of Physical and Natural Studies (1807–1859)

Girolamo Arcangelo Antonio de’ Bardi of Vernio was born on 25 August 25 1777. His parents were Eleanor Dainelli and Count Cosimo Gualterotto. As heir to a prestigious noble family, he was given a superb education, and then for a time, he served as a page to the Grand Duke Leopold.

Chemists in the Royal University of Florence Era (1924–46)

Following a series of reforms in the Italian educational system in 1923, the Institute of Higher Practical Studies and Specialization was transformed, at the end of 1924, into the Royal University of Florence. The purpose of the reforms was to gradually reduce the number of Italian universities, with the unhappy but foreseeable suppression of private institutions, and to establish a state-supported university in every political region of the country. For Tuscany, the government’s choice was Pisa, where the university had been transferred in the time of Lorenzo the Magnificent (1449–92).

Natural Scientists from the Last of the Medici (1694) to the Period of the Museum of Physics and Natural History (1775–1807)

By the end of the 17th century in Europe the new experimental method that eventually became central to the discipline of chemistry was in its infancy. Within a few decades, it passed with giant steps into the 18th century and became well-established thanks to the ideas, in-ventions, discoveries, intuition and theories of Antoine Laurent Lavoisier (1743–1794).

Introduction: A Brief Historic Outline

At Florence, Italy, the marriage between art and science leads to profound reflection and ongoing discovery. Florence has anticipated the present age: “the city of art” has always had a “scientific mind.”

Chemists in the Period of the Institute for Higher Practical Studies and Specialization (1859–1924)

Another cornerstone of higher education in Florence emerged in 1859 when the Provisional Government of Tuscany, led by Baron Bettino Ricasoli, established the Institute of Practical Higher Studies and Specialization on 22 December naming Marquis Gino Capponi (1792–1876) as Superintendent. The mission of the Institute was twofold: professional training and specialization. The aim of this institution was to make Florence the capital of Italian culture in anticipation of national independence; so the Institute had to have Chairs of disciplines that would be important to the new nation, held by the most competent and professional educators. Supporters of the Institute were intent upon its achieving constant dialogue between the “Sciences of the Spirit” and the “Sciences of Nature.” To accomplish this, four schools were established: Philology and Philosophy, Forensic Science, Natural Sciences, and Medicine and Surgery, aimed at educating young people beyond the limits of university studies and encouraging them in true creativity.