The first was founded in 1603 by
Federico Cesi, an aristocrat from
Umbria (the son of Duke of
Acquasparta and a member of an important family from
Rome) who was passionately interested in natural history – particularly
botany. Cesi's father disapproved of the research career that Federico was pursuing. His mother,
Olimpia Orsini, supported him both financially and morally. The academy struggled due to this disapproval, but after the death of Frederico's father, he had enough money to allow the academy to flourish. The academy, hosted in
Palazzo Cesi-Armellini near Saint Peter, replaced the first scientific community ever,
Giambattista della Porta's
Academia Secretorum Naturae in Naples that had been closed by the
Inquisition. Cesi founded the with three friends: the Dutch physician
Johannes van Heeck (Italianized to Giovanni Ecchio) and two fellow Umbrians, mathematician
Francesco Stelluti and
polymath Anastasio de Filiis. At the time of the Accademia's founding Cesi was only 18, and the others were only 8 years older. Cesi and his friends aimed to understand all of the
natural sciences. The literary and antiquarian emphasis set the "Lincei" apart from the host of sixteenth and seventeenth-century Italian Academies. Cesi envisioned a program of free
experiment that was respectful of tradition, yet unfettered by blind obedience to
authority, even that of
Aristotle and
Ptolemy, whose theories the new science called into question. While originally a private association, the academy became a semi-public establishment during the Napoleonic domination of Rome. This shift allowed the local scientific elite to carve out a place for themselves in larger scientific networks. However, as a semi-public establishment, the academy's focus was directed by Napoleonic politics. This focus directed the member's efforts towards stimulating industry, turning public opinion in favour of the French regime and secularizing the country. The name "Lincei" 'the
lynx-like (i. e., lynx-eyed, sharp-eyed) ones' came from
Giambattista della Porta's book
Magia Naturalis, which had an illustration of the fabled cat on the cover and the words "[...] with lynx-like eyes, examining those things which manifest themselves, so that having observed them, he may zealously use them". 's symbols were both a lynx and an
eagle; animals with, or reputed to have, keen sight (in classical and medieval
bestiaries the lynx was reputed to be able to see through rock and "new walls"). The academy's motto, chosen by Cesi, was: "Take care of small things if you want to obtain the greatest results" (
minima cura si maxima vis). According to
T. O'Conor Sloane, their other motto was
Sagacius ista. When Cesi visited
Naples, he met with many scientists in fields of interest to him including the botanist, Fabio Colonna, the natural history writer, Ferrante Imperato, and the
polymath della Porta. Della Porta was impressed with Cesi, and dedicated three works to the Linceans including a treatise on distillation called
De Distillatione, a book on curvilinear geometry called
Elementa Curvilinea, and
The Transformations of the Atmosphere. Della Porta encouraged Cesi to continue with his endeavours. Membership was banned to
monks. Members were ordered to "penetrate into the interior of things in order to know the causes and operations of nature, as it is said the lynx does, which sees not only what is outside, but what is hidden within."
Members •
Federico Cesi – founder •
Giovanni Demisiani – Greek theologian, chemist, mathematician, coined name "
telescope" •
Anastasio de Filiis – polymath •
Johannes van Heeck – Dutch physician •
Giambattista della Porta – Italian scholar, polymath and playwright •
Adam Elsheimer – German artist •
Johann Faber – German physician and botanist, coined name "
microscope" •
Galileo Galilei – Italian physicist, mathematician, astronomer, and philosopher •
Johann Schreck – German Jesuit, Missionary to China and polymath •
Francesco Stelluti – mathematician •
Nicola Antonio Stigliola – Italian philosopher, printer, architect, and medical doctor •
Luca Valerio – Italian mathematician •
Giovanni Ciampoli – poet, intellectual, Secretary of Briefs to Pope Gregory XV and chamberlain to Urban VIII •
Virginio Cesarini – poet, intellectual, and chamberlain to Popes Gregory XV and Urban VIII ==
Accademia re-foundation ==