L'ingegneria mineraria nelle Università italiane: dall'epoca moderna alla società contemporanea

This study aims to identify the origins and development of mining engineering in European societies in the modern and contemporary eras and, subsequently, its diffusion in Italian academies and universities as a tool for the transmission and creation of scientific and technological knowledge. The creation and approval of a degree in Mining Engineering in the Italian university was a difficult and slow process, at least compared to other European Countries. After the unification of Italy, and for the following 50 years, engineering studies favoured a multi-purpose training, with little attention to specialisations. The turning point came only after the 1920s, with the establishment of a specific degree in mining engineering in selected universities. Today’s society, which has as its founding paradigm the complexity, the interconnection and the dizziness of immediate communication, cannot forget its roots: a culture without memory is not open to the future, because history is awareness.