Mattia Damiani da Volterra (1705–1776), “renowned Doctor,” was the author
in 1754 of a collection of scientifi c poems, Le Muse Fisiche (The Physical Muses) on
two subjects: Newtonian physics and the plurality of the worlds. Damiani’s interest
in science was precocious, but even at that, it was superimposed on his studies in
jurisprudence completed in Pisa in 1726. In 2003, Damiani’s lost text, De Hygrometris
et eorum defectibus disputatio (Disputation about hygrometers and their defects),
which was printed in 1726 in Pisa, was brought to light. It characterizes him as a
young scientist who refl ected upon the properties and limits of laboratory instruments
and on nascent aspects of climatology. In this Disputation, a delightful amalgamation
of scientifi c and humanistic literature is pursued. A discussion of the properties
and limits of contemporary hygrometers and a comparison of the Cartesian and
Newtonian hypotheses about cloud formations are interspersed with quotations of
verses on natural phenomena, mostly from poems of the classic age—a prelude to
the author’s future involvement in writing scientifi c verses. The poetry of Damiani,
which often shows a musicality comparable to that of the poet Giacomo Leopardi
(1798–1837), deserves to be recognized and saved from oblivion. Especially remarkable
is the implicit “multimedia” project of a union among science, poetry, theater,
and music. The rediscovered Disputation about hygrometers opens a new window on
the personages involved and on the evolution of meteorological concepts in Europe in
the context of the then-new Galilean and Newtonian physics