The Erudite Practitioner : Francesco Redi's Communication Strategies

The history of science has long questioned the role played by Francesco Redi (1626-1697) within the Accademia del Cimento. However, in the absence of proven list of members and of clear boundaries defining the perimeter of the Accademia more generally, it is considered more productive to speak of influence rather than membership. As is well known, Redi was at the centre of various cultural contexts in seventeenth century Tuscany, both scientific and literary, such as his well-known preminent roles in the Accademia della Crusca. Moreover, as some sources show, by the second half of the century, the narrative style he adopted for scientific experimentalism seemed to have become a model. Through the analysis of many unpublished sources, some of which I recently discovered, the aim of this study is to analyse the expressive, rhetorical, and communicative devices used by Redi in his scientific prose, which can also be traced in the prose of the Saggi di naturali esperienze fatte nell’Accademia del Cimento (1667). By examining the evolution of Redi’s scientific prose and identifying common elements between his early works and the Saggi, this study aims to shed new light on the relationship between Redi and the famous Florentine Academy.