Gli inizi dell’istruzione tecnica a Ferrara. Il ruolo della matematica

Abstract

Before the Casati law of 1859 and the Mamiani Regulation of 1860, the technical schools in the city of Ferrara were essentially linked to the University (School of Hydraulics, Courses for surveyors, School of Agriculture). With the Unification of Italy, Communal Technical Schools (1861) and the Provincial Technical Institute (1863) were also set up in Ferrara. They aimed at providing young people with the professional formation and general culture required for a career in public administration, industry, commerce and agriculture. Among the various sections which constituted the technical institutes, the teaching of mathematics assumed particular importance in the Section of Physics and Mathematics, the only one which qualified for entrance to university. Attempts were made to reorganise Higher Technical Education through the establishment of a technical school for civil engineering, but this plan was never carried out.