Silvio A. Bedini (January 17, 1917 – November 14, 2007) was an American historian, specialising in early scientific instruments. He was Historian
Emeritus
''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...
of the
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...
, where he served on the professional staff for twenty-five years, retiring in 1987.
Biography
Bedini was born in
Ridgefield, Connecticut
Ridgefield is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut
Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York ...
in 1917.
In 1958 he accepted an invitation to write a
brochure
A brochure is originally an Information, informative paper document (often also used for advertising) that can be folded into a template, pamphlet, or Folded leaflet, leaflet. A brochure can also be a set of related unfolded papers put into a po ...
about the history of his hometown for its 250th anniversary, a project that just three months later resulted in a 411-page book titled ''Ridgefield in Review''.
In 1961 he accepted the offer of a position in Washington, D.C. as curator in the Department of Mechanical and Civil Engineering at the
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...
in the new Museum of History and Technology (now the
National Museum of American History
The National Museum of American History: Kenneth E. Behring Center collects, preserves, and displays the heritage of the United States in the areas of social, political, cultural, scientific, and military history. Among the items on display is t ...
), which was under construction. By 1965, Bedini became Assistant Director of the Museum of History and Technology, and in 1972 was appointed Deputy Director of the National Museum of History and Technology. Following his tenure as Deputy Director, he served as Keeper of Rare Books at the Dibner Library of the History of Science and Technology, a branch of the
Smithsonian Institution Libraries
Smithsonian Libraries and Archives is an institutional archives and library system comprising 21 branch libraries serving the various Smithsonian Institution museums and research centers. The Libraries and Archives serve Smithsonian Institution ...
, from 1978 until his retirement in 1987. Afterwards, Bedini served as Historian Emeritus at the Smithsonian.
Awards
For his research and publications in 1962 Bedini received the
Abbott Payson Award of the
Society for the History of Technology
The Society for the History of Technology (SHOT) is the primary professional society for historians of technology. SHOT was founded in 1958 in the United States, and it has since become an international society with members "from some thirty-five ...
, and in 1997 in
Darmstadt
Darmstadt () is a city in the States of Germany, state of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Frankfurt Rhine Main Area, Rhine-Main-Area (Frankfurt Metropolitan Region). Darmstadt has around 160,000 inhabitants, making it th ...
, Germany he was awarded the
Paul-Bunge-Preis at the General Assembly of the German Bunsen Society for Physical Chemistry "for the book of foremost quality on the history of scientific instruments."
In 2000, in
Munich
Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...
, Germany he was awarded the
Leonardo da Vinci Medal
The Leonardo da Vinci Medal is the highest award of the Society for the History of Technology (SHOT), and was first given in 1962. In general this award is granted annually to scholars who have contributed outstandingly to the history of technology ...
, "the highest recognition from the Society of the History of Technology."
Memberships
His memberships include the
American Philosophical Society
The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...
, the
American Antiquarian Society
The American Antiquarian Society (AAS), located in Worcester, Massachusetts, is both a learned society and a national research library of pre-twentieth-century American history and culture. Founded in 1812, it is the oldest historical society in ...
, the
Society of American Historians
The Society of American Historians, founded in 1939, encourages and honors literary distinction in the writing of history and biography about American topics. The approximately 300 members include professional historians, independent scholars, jou ...
, the
Washington Academy of Sciences
Washington commonly refers to:
* Washington (state), United States
* Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States
** A metonym for the federal government of the United States
** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...
, the Scientific Instrument Society (London), the Astrolabe Society (Paris), the Surveyors Historical Society, and most recently, the DC Association of Land Surveyors, which extended to him an Honorary Membership in December 2003.
Bedini was completing his twenty-third book.
Works
*"Johann Philipp Trefler: Clockmaker of Augsburg", ''Bulletin of the
National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors
The National Association of Watch & Clock Collectors, Inc. (NAWCC) is a nonprofit association of people who share a passion for collecting watches and clocks and studying horology (the art and science of time and timekeeping). The NAWCC's global m ...
'' (1956—1957), reprinted as pamphlet. (1957).
*''Ridgefield in Review''. (1958).
*''Agent for the Archduke: Another chapter in the story of Johann Phillip Treffler, Clockmaker of Augsburg''. (1961).
*''XIVth and XVth century public clocks of the papal marches''. (1962).
*''
Galileo Galilei
Galileo di Vincenzo Bonaiuti de' Galilei (15 February 1564 – 8 January 1642) was an Italian astronomer, physicist and engineer, sometimes described as a polymath. Commonly referred to as Galileo, his name was pronounced (, ). He was ...
and time measurement: A re-examination of pertinent documents''. (1963).
*"The scent of time: A study of the use of fire and incense for time measurement in Oriental countries" (''Transactions of the American Philosophical Society'', new ser). (1963).
*"Early American Scientific Instruments and Their Makers". ''United States National Museum Bulletin''. (1964).
*''The makers of Galileo's scientific instruments''. (1964).
* "The Borghesi Astronomical Clock in the Museum of History and Technology" (''United States National Museum Bulletin''). (1966).
*"Mechanical Universe. The Astrarium of
Giovanni de Dondi
Giovanni Dondi dell'Orologio (c. 1330 – 1388), also known as Giovanni de' Dondi, was an Italian physician, astronomer and mechanical engineer in Padua, now in Italy. He is remembered today as a pioneer in the art of clock design and construct ...
" (''Transactions of the American Philosophical Society'', New Series, Volume 56, Part 5.). (1966).
*''Sundials and dialling: A bibliography of Italian and other references''. (1966).
*''Seventeenth century magnetic timepieces''. (1969).
*"
Benjamin Banneker
Benjamin Banneker (November 9, 1731October 19, 1806) was an African-American naturalist, mathematician, astronomer and almanac author. He was a landowner who also worked as a surveyor and farmer.
Born in Baltimore County, Maryland, to a fr ...
and the survey of the
District of Columbia
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
, 1791". (''Records of the
Columbia Historical Society
The Historical Society of Washington, D.C., also called the DC History Center, is an educational foundation dedicated to preserving and displaying the history of Washington, D.C. The society provides lectures, exhibits, classes, and community e ...
'') (1971).
*''The tube of long vision : (the physical characteristics of the early 17th Century telescope)''. (1971).
*''The Life of Benjamin Banneker''. (1971).
*''Moon Man's Greatest Adventure'' (with Wernher von; Whipple, Fred L. and Thomas, Davis Braun. (1973).
*''Thinkers and tinkers: Early American men of science''. (1975).
*''The Spotted Stones''. (Library Binding - 1978).
*''Introduction—the Vatican's astronomical paintings and the Institute of the Sciences of Bologna''. (1980).
*''Thinkers and Tinkers: Early American Men of Science''. (1980).
*''
Th. Jefferson and science: Exhibition catalogue''. (1981).
*''
Declaration of Independence
A declaration of independence or declaration of statehood or proclamation of independence is an assertion by a polity in a defined territory that it is independent and constitutes a state. Such places are usually declared from part or all of the ...
Desk, Relic of Revolution''. (1981).
*''Thinkers and Tinkers: Early Men of Science''. (1983).
*"At the Sign of the Compass and Quadrant: The Life and Times of Anthony Lamb" (''Transactions of the American Philosophical Society''). (1984).
*"The scientific instruments of the
Lewis and Clark expedition
The Lewis and Clark Expedition, also known as the Corps of Discovery Expedition, was the United States expedition to cross the newly acquired western portion of the country after the Louisiana Purchase. The Corps of Discovery was a select gro ...
", ''Great Plains Quarterly''. (1984).
*''Thomas Jefferson and His Copying Machines'' (Monticello monograph series). (1984)
*''Clockwork cosmos: Bernardo Facini and the Farnese planisferologio (Studi e testi)''. (1985).
*''Thomas Jefferson and American vertebrate paleontology'' (Virginia Division of Mineral Resources publication). (1985).
*''Marshall's meridian instrument''. (1987).
*''Thomas Jefferson: Statesman of Science''. (1990).
*''The
Christopher Columbus
Christopher Columbus
* lij, Cristoffa C(or)ombo
* es, link=no, Cristóbal Colón
* pt, Cristóvão Colombo
* ca, Cristòfor (or )
* la, Christophorus Columbus. (; born between 25 August and 31 October 1451, died 20 May 1506) was a ...
Encyclopedia''. (1991).
*''The pulse of time : Galileo Galilei, the determination of longitude, and the pendulum clock''. (1991).
*"The Survey of the Federal Territory: Andrew Ellicott and Benjamin Banneker" (''Washington History''). (1991).
*''Science and Instruments in
Seventeenth-Century Italy'' (Collected Studies Series, Cs448). (1994).
*''The Trail of Time : Time Measurement with Incense in East Asia'',
Cambridge University Press
Cambridge University Press is the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by Henry VIII of England, King Henry VIII in 1534, it is the oldest university press
A university press is an academic publishing hou ...
. (1994).
* Banneker, Benjamin (''Encyclopedia of African-American History and Culture''). (1996).
*"The Mace and the Gavel: Symbols of Government in America" (''Transactions of the American Philosophical Society''). (1997).
*''
Pope's Elephant: An Elephant's Journey from Deep in India to the Heart of Rome''. (1997).
*''Christopher Columbus and the Age of Exploration: An Encyclopedia'', (with David Buisseret). (1998).
*''Maryland Historical Magazine'' - Summer 1998 (Vol. 93 No. 2) (with Michael P. McCarthy, Merle T. Cole and Karen Robbins). (1998).
*''The Pope's Elephant'', Nashville, TN: J.S. Sanders & Co. (1998).
* ''The Jefferson Stone: Demarcation of the First Meridian of the United States''. (1999).
*''Patrons, Artisans and Instruments of Science, 1600-1750'', (Collected Studies, Cs635). (1999)
*''The Life of Benjamin Banneker: The First African-American Man of Science''. (1999)
* "Banneker, Benjamin (1731-1806), farmer and astronomer" (''
American National Biography
The ''American National Biography'' (ANB) is a 24-volume biographical encyclopedia set that contains about 17,400 entries and 20 million words, first published in 1999 by Oxford University Press under the auspices of the American Council of Le ...
''). (1999)
* ''
William Churton
William Churton (died December 1767) was an early North Carolina surveyor.
Biography
He moved to Great Britain's North American colonies in about 1749 as a surveyor and cartographer for the Granville District which included all of North Carolina n ...
(
fl. 1749-1767): North Carolina Cartographer (Professional surveyor)''. (2001).
*''With Compass and Chain: Early American Surveyors and Their Instruments''. (2001).
*''Jefferson and Science'' (with Donald Fleming). (2002).
*"Benjamin Banneker" (''
Complete Dictionary of Scientific Biography
The ''Dictionary of Scientific Biography'' is a scholarly reference work that was published from 1970 through 1980 by publisher Charles Scribner's Sons, with main editor the science historian Charles Gillispie, from Princeton University. It consi ...
''). (2008).
References
External links
* Patricia Sullivan
"Silvio A. Bedini 1917–2007" ''ACSM Bulletin'' (December 2007) 25.
Silvio Bedini ''The Times'' Obituaries (January 1, 2008).
* Marc and Jackie Cheves
In Memoriam: Silvio Bedini ''The American Surveyor'' (December 2007).
* Robert C. Post
''Technology and Culture'' 49 (2008).
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bedini, Silvio
1917 births
20th-century American historians
American male non-fiction writers
People from Ridgefield, Connecticut
2007 deaths
Members of the American Philosophical Society
Smithsonian Institution people
Columbia University alumni
University of Bridgeport alumni
Leonardo da Vinci Medal recipients
American historians of science
20th-century American male writers
Historians from Connecticut