Bonheur public et méthode géométrique.

Abstract

Eighteenth-century Italy was the setting for early and important interactions between mathematics and economics. To answer the questions of “why” and “how”, Marco Bianchini, professor at the University of Parma, guides us through a fascinating story where philosophy, science, religion, economics, and moral and political issues interconnect in often unexpected ways. The journey through the Italian peninsular in the years 1711-1803 takes in Florence, Mantua, Venice, Naples, Milan, Udine, Palermo, and introduces figures as famous as Galiani and Beccaria and as forgotten as Canciani and Silio. The author offers the reader a comparative perspective on the intellectual currents and traditions in Europe of the Enlightenment. Marco Bianchini’s account is the result of extensive research and is written in a clear and accessible style.

Twenty years after the original publication, this French translation, for which the author has provided a new preface, will reveal to a larger audience historical insights with relevance far beyond the small Italian states of the “Settecento”.