Collection comprises approximately 17,000 offprints, reprints, and pamphlets related to the history of science collected by Vito Volterra (1860-1940), an Italian mathematician. The offprints focus primarily on the physical sciences, with emphasis on works on astronomy, mathematics, fluid mechanics, energetics, and chemistry and date from 1754 to 1956.

Vito Volterra (1860-1940) was an Italian mathematician noted for his role in the development of calculus. He defined permutable functions and elaborated systematic equations and worked on applications in analysis, physics, and biology. Volterra was born in Ancona, Italy in 1860 to parents Abramo Volterra and Angelica Almagia. He graduated from the University of Pisa in 1882. He was a professor at Pisa from 1883 to 1892, the University of Turin from 1892 to 1900, and the University of Rome from 1900 to 1931. In 1905 he became a Senator of the Kingdom of Italy and in 1921 was awarded an honorary knighthood from King George V of England. During World War I Volterra served in the Italian Air Force. Because he refused to swear allegiance to the Fascist government, in 1931 he was forced to resign from the university and went abroad to teach and travel. He retired to Ariccia, Italy, where he died on October 11, 1940. The death went unnoticed by the authorities and on October 16, 1943, the Nazi Party's SS went to his home in Rome to arrest him for deportation.

166.8 Linear Feet (400 boxes)

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