Laura Bassi (1711-1778) was renowned for her understanding of Newton and may have been the first woman to have an acknowledged, scientific career.
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Our STEMinist of the day was known as the female scientist of her generation. She was renowned for her understanding of Newton and may have been the first woman to have an acknowledged, scientific career. She was so respected that she even inspired others in her day to decry the lack of support for women in science. Let’s talk about Laura Bassi.
Laura Maria Catarina Bassi was born on October 31, 1711 in Bologna, in what was then called the Papal States and what’s now known as Italy. Laura’s father was a lawyer.
From a very young age, it was clear that Laura possessed an incredible intellect. She excelled at her studies, which included Latin and French. Laura’s mother suffered from frequent illness, drawing visits from the family’s doctor. The doctor, who was also a professor of medicine and philosophy, noticed Laura’s smarts when she was 13 years old and offered to tutor her in philosophy. Laura’s parents accepted.
The doctor taught her Aristotelian, Galilean and Cartesian physics. In 1731, he felt that Laura was ready to show off her smarts and invited the archbishop of Bologna and fellow philosophers from the University of Bologna to test her knowledge. They were extremely impressed and by 1732, Laura’s house was filled with scholars eager to debate with her about history, physics, and the other great intellectual topics of the day.
Laura found a particularly important ally and advocate in the archbishop of Bologna, Cardinal Prospero Lambertini. With his support, on March 20, 1732, Laura became the first woman member of the prestigious Bologna Academy of Sciences, though she was admitted just as an honorary member, due to her gender.
This would be a theme in Laura’s life. She broke barriers and was given the opportunity to participate in groups and places that were typically reserved for men. That showed immense progress. And yet, she was often barred from the level of participation expected of and entitled to her male peers.
One month after being accepted to the Academy, Laura sought another title: a doctorate of philosophy. Her academic work focused on Isaac Newton’s studies of optics and light. She received her degree a month after that, on May 12, 1732. The people of Bologna were so excited by all of this that there were public celebrations. Her brilliance was lauded far and wide, even beyond the borders of her home country.
A month after receiving her doctorate, Laura presented work on the properties of water and was subsequently awarded a professorship in physics at the University of Bologna.
Once again, this role was groundbreaking. Laura was the first woman to land such a role in Europe. It was also honorific, rather than substantive. She wasn’t really supposed to teach, but rather only to give lectures occasionally when explicitly asked to do so.
Laura wasn’t into these restrictions. When her arguments against them were ignored, she took a different approach. Laura decided to continue her education and requested permission to access books that had been banned by the Roman Catholic Church, including those by Galileo and Descartes. She also studied calculus, experimental physics, and chemistry with other members of the Academy.
The year 1738 marked another milestone for Laura, this time a personal one. She married Giovanni Giuseppe Veratti. Giovanni was a fellow professor and a doctor. The two would go on to have 8 children together.
Laura’s marriage proved beneficial to her career. Not only had she found a partner in her husband to help advance her scientific work, and particularly in teaching Newtonian experimental physics, she was also able to interact with other scientists without turning heads. As an unmarried woman, it was seen as unseemly to interact with men alone. Now, Laura and Giovanni’s house could be filled with intellectual sparring partners.
In 1745, Laura’s relationship with Prospero Lambertini came in handy once again. The cardinal had become Pope Benedict XIV and he decided to create a special, elite group of scientists drawn from the Bologna Academy to form something called the Benedettini. Laura was initially excluded from the group, but eventually convinced the Pope that she should be included as the group’s 25th, and only female, member. He agreed, though, once again, under the condition that Laura would not have the same voting privileges as the rest of the group.
Four years later, in 1749, Laura took her desire to teach into her own hands and began teaching out of her house. She had developed an 8-month daily course of study that included regular experiments. Young men came from across the country, and even across Europe, to learn from Laura. The Senate of Bologna also took notice of Laura’s success and paid her to keep the school going.
In 1766, Laura began teaching experimental physics at the Collegio Montalto. Ten years later, she became chair of experimental physics of the Bologna Institute. That made her the first woman in history to hold that position. It was a family affair: Laura’s husband worked as her assistant and their son studied under their tutelage.
Finally, after proving herself for many years, this appointment did not have the same kinds of sexist restrictions as her other jobs.
Laura died two years later on February 20, 1778. After her death, her husband and four surviving sons created a marble epitaph, still visible today at the church of Corpus Domini in Bologna.
Despite the fact that she was world renowned for her contributions to science, physical evidence of her work is sparse. Though the Bolognia Academy archives suggest Laura presented on 32 research papers, only 4 were published. Many of her unpublished works were destroyed.
Still, Laura Bossi’s contributions to science should not be discounted. Her teachings helped to train students who would go on to be great scientists themselves and her understanding of experimental physics helped to usher in a new era of appreciation for the discipline. Perhaps most importantly, she paved the way for many, many brilliant women physicists in the centuries to come
All month, we’re talking about STEMinists. For more on why we’re doing what we’re doing, check out our newsletter, Womannica Weekly. Follow us on facebook and instagram @encyclopediawomannica.
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Talk to you tomorrow!