From Tournefort to Linnaeus: The Slow Conversion of the Institute of Sciences of Bologna

This chapter of the volume, devoted to the dissemination in eighteenth century Italy of Linnaeus' system of plants' classification, focusses on its assimilation by the scientific institutions of Bologna (the University, the Institute of Sciences, and the Botanical Garden), where until the mid-century the favourite taxonomic method was Tournefort's. It provides an account of the role played in this process of assimilation by influential figures such as Giuseppe and Gaetano Monti, Ferdinando Bassi, and the Spanish botanist Casimiro Gòmez Ortega, based mainly on their correspondence with Linnaeus himself or with someone of his pupils.