A tale of a large volcano by three scientists: W. Sartorius, W. Engelmann, A. Lasaulx

Abstract

The events that bind three nineteenth-century characters of German nationality to the Gioenia Academy of Catania are described. European scientific literature is very rich in information on the personality of the author of the famous book Der Aetna, Wolfgang Sartorius, who joined the Gioenian Academy during his five volcanological trips to Sicily. Much less on the other two characters who greatly contributed to the publication of the work left in form of manuscript in 1880, the publisher Wilhelm Engelmann and the curator geologist Arnold Lasaulx. The reconstruction of their professional bond reveals solidarity and scientific altruism.