Page 79 - Translation Journal July 2015
P. 79
b.The synopsis-English version. To write the history of the magnificent Church of St. Peter in Rome, particularly related to its damage,
involves two kinds of risk. The first one is the shift from the Truth for excessive passion, hence the necessity to be detached as
much as possible in order to reach the Truth. The second risk is associated with the fact that there might not be sufficient and
appropriate information; in this case, the knowledge of studies conducted by other scholars and writers and the proper attention to
their ideas is fundamental, as well as a keen eye in the accurate observation of the construction. The abundant information collected on
the Building made it arduous to transpose it in a written form; nevertheless, considering the concept of solidity, the three possible
remarks on the Building can be associated with the Vitruvian virtues: Venustas, Firmitas, Utilitas (Delight, Firmness, Commodity). Going
through its structure and defects clearly requires the combination of different aspects oDfekcneomwbleedrg1e6.tFhu, r1t7h4er7m. ore, the greatness of the
Building made us realise the urgency of adequate technical restoration works. Padua,
4.b. The conversion table of measurement units and numeric systems
The synopsis is connected to a conversion table of measurement units (Table 1), specifically useful in the field of statics and mechanics
in Italy in the eighteenth century and in two of the main contemporary metric systems. Although this idea is conceptually simple and
common in other fields, such as the history of astronomy or of agronomy, it is however, unprecedented in the fields of the history
of architecture, statics and mechanics, perhaps because of the difficulty of finding reliable and directly comparable historic sources.
For this reason, being the bibliographic references significantly divergent, we have to consider the conversions just indicative and
heavily dependent on geographical areas and historical phases (Cardarelli, 1999; Cardarelli, 2003; Guidi, 1839; Hinkelman and Sinylla,
2005; Marta, 1866).
Measurement units International Measurement UK-USA Measurement
used by Giovanni Poleni System System
Lenght 0.07 centimeter-cm 0.03 inch-in
0.89 centimeter-cm 0.35 inch-in
1 minute (minuto) 3.17 centimeter-cm 1.25 inch-in
1 line (linea) 3.17 centimeter-cm 1.25 inch-in
1 inch (pollice) 26.4 centimeter-cm 10.39 inch-in
1 ounce (oncia) 38.04 centimeter-cm 1.25 foot-ft
1 palm (palmo) 33.49 centimeter-cm 1.1 foot-ft
1 foot (piede) 34.45 centimeter-cm 1.13 foot-ft
1 Venetian foot (piede veneto) 32.48 centimeter-cm 10.7 foot-ft
1 Rhine foot (piede renano) 3 grams-g (SI) 0.11 ounce-oz
0.36 kilograms-kg (SI) 0.96 pound -lb
1 Royal foot of Paris (piede regio di Parigi)
Weight 19 EURO 15 GBP - 23 USD
1 ounce (oncia)
1 pound (libbra) 7 8 9 10 11 12 14 15 16 19 20 21
VII VII IX X XI XII XI XV XV XI XX XX
Currency IX I
1 Roman scudo (scudo romano) I V
Numeric system Conversion
Arabic 1 2 3 4 5 6
I II III IV V VI
Roman
Arabic 30 40 50 60 70 90 100 150 160 200 250 400 500 600 900 1000
Roman XXX XL L
LX LXX XC C CL CLX CC CCL CD D DC CM M
Table 1. The conversion table of measurement units and numeric systems.
4.c. The historic sources
One of the last tools, proposed in this translation strategy, is a detailed list of the writings, published and not, that Giovanni Poleni
indicates in his Historic Memories as references he used for the elaboration of his essay.
This list can be helpful, not only for providing an idea of the level of divulgation of the scientific and technical books about architecture,
restoration and mechanics in Europe in that time, but also to assess the role of Giovanni Poleni in the European context,
compared to some of most relevant scientists of his time, such as Newton (1642-1727) or Johann Bernoulli (1667-1745), who are cited
several times by Poleni in Historic Memories, whilst occasionally proposing arguments that are discordant with the opinions of these
prominent scholars. In fact the historical sources used by Giovanni Poleni can be divided into three groups:
A) scientific treatises written by scholars of his time and of the previous century, which faces preliminary or complementary
issues, including treatises about theoretical physics (Kepler, 1606; Newton, 1726) , experimental physics (Galileo, 1638;
Picard, 1688; Parent, 1713) and especially theoretical and experimental mechanics (Bernoulli, 1670; de la Hire, 1691, 1702 and
Translation Journal - July 2015 | 79
involves two kinds of risk. The first one is the shift from the Truth for excessive passion, hence the necessity to be detached as
much as possible in order to reach the Truth. The second risk is associated with the fact that there might not be sufficient and
appropriate information; in this case, the knowledge of studies conducted by other scholars and writers and the proper attention to
their ideas is fundamental, as well as a keen eye in the accurate observation of the construction. The abundant information collected on
the Building made it arduous to transpose it in a written form; nevertheless, considering the concept of solidity, the three possible
remarks on the Building can be associated with the Vitruvian virtues: Venustas, Firmitas, Utilitas (Delight, Firmness, Commodity). Going
through its structure and defects clearly requires the combination of different aspects oDfekcneomwbleedrg1e6.tFhu, r1t7h4er7m. ore, the greatness of the
Building made us realise the urgency of adequate technical restoration works. Padua,
4.b. The conversion table of measurement units and numeric systems
The synopsis is connected to a conversion table of measurement units (Table 1), specifically useful in the field of statics and mechanics
in Italy in the eighteenth century and in two of the main contemporary metric systems. Although this idea is conceptually simple and
common in other fields, such as the history of astronomy or of agronomy, it is however, unprecedented in the fields of the history
of architecture, statics and mechanics, perhaps because of the difficulty of finding reliable and directly comparable historic sources.
For this reason, being the bibliographic references significantly divergent, we have to consider the conversions just indicative and
heavily dependent on geographical areas and historical phases (Cardarelli, 1999; Cardarelli, 2003; Guidi, 1839; Hinkelman and Sinylla,
2005; Marta, 1866).
Measurement units International Measurement UK-USA Measurement
used by Giovanni Poleni System System
Lenght 0.07 centimeter-cm 0.03 inch-in
0.89 centimeter-cm 0.35 inch-in
1 minute (minuto) 3.17 centimeter-cm 1.25 inch-in
1 line (linea) 3.17 centimeter-cm 1.25 inch-in
1 inch (pollice) 26.4 centimeter-cm 10.39 inch-in
1 ounce (oncia) 38.04 centimeter-cm 1.25 foot-ft
1 palm (palmo) 33.49 centimeter-cm 1.1 foot-ft
1 foot (piede) 34.45 centimeter-cm 1.13 foot-ft
1 Venetian foot (piede veneto) 32.48 centimeter-cm 10.7 foot-ft
1 Rhine foot (piede renano) 3 grams-g (SI) 0.11 ounce-oz
0.36 kilograms-kg (SI) 0.96 pound -lb
1 Royal foot of Paris (piede regio di Parigi)
Weight 19 EURO 15 GBP - 23 USD
1 ounce (oncia)
1 pound (libbra) 7 8 9 10 11 12 14 15 16 19 20 21
VII VII IX X XI XII XI XV XV XI XX XX
Currency IX I
1 Roman scudo (scudo romano) I V
Numeric system Conversion
Arabic 1 2 3 4 5 6
I II III IV V VI
Roman
Arabic 30 40 50 60 70 90 100 150 160 200 250 400 500 600 900 1000
Roman XXX XL L
LX LXX XC C CL CLX CC CCL CD D DC CM M
Table 1. The conversion table of measurement units and numeric systems.
4.c. The historic sources
One of the last tools, proposed in this translation strategy, is a detailed list of the writings, published and not, that Giovanni Poleni
indicates in his Historic Memories as references he used for the elaboration of his essay.
This list can be helpful, not only for providing an idea of the level of divulgation of the scientific and technical books about architecture,
restoration and mechanics in Europe in that time, but also to assess the role of Giovanni Poleni in the European context,
compared to some of most relevant scientists of his time, such as Newton (1642-1727) or Johann Bernoulli (1667-1745), who are cited
several times by Poleni in Historic Memories, whilst occasionally proposing arguments that are discordant with the opinions of these
prominent scholars. In fact the historical sources used by Giovanni Poleni can be divided into three groups:
A) scientific treatises written by scholars of his time and of the previous century, which faces preliminary or complementary
issues, including treatises about theoretical physics (Kepler, 1606; Newton, 1726) , experimental physics (Galileo, 1638;
Picard, 1688; Parent, 1713) and especially theoretical and experimental mechanics (Bernoulli, 1670; de la Hire, 1691, 1702 and
Translation Journal - July 2015 | 79
