The Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica in Naples

The aim of the paper is to analyze the reception and elaboration of Isaac Newton’s Principia, in the Reign of Naples, during the first half of the 18th century. We know that abbot Celestino Galiani was a staunch and active supporter of spreading Newton’s work in the Reign of Naples, as well as in Italy. He was, in fact, among the first in Rome to read both Optice and Principia and to write and disseminate their contents to his friends and followers ("Osservazioni sopra il libro del Newton intitolato Principia", "Animadversiones nonnullae circa opticem Isaaci Neutoni", "Differenze tra le scoperte di Newton e l’ipotesi cartesiana"). He then turned to the Italian scientific community and sent several copies of the "Epistola de gravitate et cartesianis vorticibus" (1714) to several correspondents in various parts of Italy (including Naples) to demonstrate the validity of Newton’s gravitational theory against the vortex theory of Descartes. But when Galiani went to Naples, he was able to move proactively in order to affirm the “new” physics: he founded the Academy of Sciences and established a professorship of astronomy and navigation. He was also careful to train and educate Pietro Di Martino (1707-1746), Nicola Di Martino’s brother, who would have occupied that professorship. Galiani sent him to Bologna to study and gain expertise under Eustachio Manfredi. When Pietro came back to Naples, he held the chair of astronomy and wrote several educational works, including the "Philosophiae naturalis institutiones libri tres" (1738). This work is the main exposition, systematization and circulation of modern Newtonian physics, not only in the Reign of Naples, but in Italy too. So the aim of this paper is to introduce this text -so far not subject to due care- to analyze the structure and consider the contents.