Leon battista alberti and the art of building

Abstract

The modern science of construction was born in 1638 with the publication of the Discorsi e dimostrazioni matematiche intorno a due nuove scienze (Two New Sciences including Centres of Gravity and Force of Percussion) by Galileo Galilei (1989). This was the last work of the Pisan scientist: composed during the years of his exile in the villa at Arceri, it was an elaboration of notes from his lectures given at the University of Padua at a time when he was in contact with overseers and workers in the shipyard of Venice. The work takes the form of dialogues between three characters over the course of 4 days, first addressing questions about the strength of elements of architectural construction or machinery, and later, the problems of what we today call dynamics. Naturally, today’s modern science of construction is very different from that of Galileo, thanks to the contributions of mathematics and physics, just as science is continuing to change today, similarly influenced by the widespread use of computers.