Rodolico Francesco

Italian mineralogist and linguist who undertook research on scientific lexicography, in particular on the history of mineralogical terms and above all on the relationship between popular, scientific and commercial lexicons. He devoted other research to the geomorphologic study of Tuscany and Umbria, observing the relationship between their petrographic characteristics and man-made activity. In his work Le pietre delle città dItalia (The Stones of the Cities of Italy) published in Florence in 1953, Rodolico described Italy on the whole by analyzing its stones, highlighting their use as building materials and thus directing mineralogy into a more applicable science. During the years of his teaching at the Faculty of Architecture of Florence he made a substantial contribution to architectural restoration: the mineralogist pointed out that studying the history of a stone meant examining its features including its degradation and the measures to contain it. He died in Florence on 30 March 1988. Link to Wikipedia biography (Italian) Read less