PER UNA STORIA DI DUE SECOLI DEL LOMBARDO E DI 150 ANNI DEL POLITECNICO

The focus of this essay is on the relationship in Italy between scientific and technical culture on the one hand and “economic Risorgimento†on the other hand (the latter to be understood as the condition and the driving force of the “political Risorgimentoâ€). In the first part this relationship is shown to be linked to the more general idea of bringing Italy back into “modern European civilizationâ€, which in the first half of the XIX century was expressed both in heightened technological innovation and production, and in the rise of national movements for emancipation and independence. In the second part of the essay the measures are considered which were taken by the ruling classes after Unification in the face of remarkable difficulties and resistances. Thanks to such measures, the cultural conditions were created which enabled the subsequent industrial take-off between the XIX and XX century.