The path toward modern science began in the university during the second half of the sixteenth century and the end of the seventeenth century. With many twists and turns, the course of this path was one for which the University of Padua played a particularly important role. Science has always been intertwined with technology. During the Italian Renaissance, artists possessed the same skills later used by architects, town planners, and engineers. A technology path that has built today’s crucial sector demonstrating excellence in Padua is one that entered its university a later on.  This technological revolution is essential for the cultural and entrepreneurial development of the local region and territory. Throughout history, science has been defined by the values that constitute its ethos. This includes its independence from ethnic, national, religious, and socio-economic class differences. Science has been the “common denominator” as its use of reason and its suspension of the judgment have led to the verification of facts. The same values that totalitarian societies have always tried to contain. At the same time, scientific revolutions are not born fully free. It is no coincidence that scientific research was first carried out in the academies created by “Ideal Republics.” Institutions where open dialogue, free discussion and ideas complied with the rules of the scientific method and compared against opposing proposals and results based on experiments and demonstrations. Only later, in the rest of Europe and before Italy, would universities enter the scene. It was here, among all Italian institutions that the University of Padua has sat at the forefront, eager and anticipating future prospects. 

Scienza e tecnica. Dalla rivoluzione scientifica alla rivoluzione digitale (Italian only)
by Giulio Peruzzi and Valentina Roberti
Donzelli – Padova University Press, 2022
ISBN 9788855223669