Royal Victoria Hotel, facciata (M. Cerrai, Comune di Pisa)
Royal Hotel Victoria, lungarno Pacinotti
Royal Victoria Hotel, facciata (M. Cerrai, Comune di Pisa)The First Congress of Italian Scientists: From 1829 onwards, the mathematician CharlesBabbage promoted a political campaign that pushed all European scientists to form an academy of scientific knowledge, under which to identify and therefore gain a prestigious position. In 1839, Carlo Bonaparte, Napoleon's grandson, back from his US studies managed to convince the Grand Duke of Tuscany to bring together all Italian scientists in Pisa, on the occasion of the firstcongress of Italian scientists. The city kept pace with the great European capitalsby hosting illustrious scholars from all over Italy, except for the Papal States, which denied their subjects the opportunity to participate in the event. On that occasion, the statue dedicated to Galileo Galilei was inaugurated and is still located in the main hall of the old Sapienza. The work of the attending scientists was organized into six sections: 1. chemistry, physics and mathematics; 2. geology; 3. botany and physiology; 4. zoology and comparative anatomy; 5. agronomy and technology; 6. medicine. Many of the meetings were held right inside the 'Caffè dell'Ussero' and the participants in the congress were hosted at the 'Royal Victoria Hotel', renovated for the occasion.
