劳拉·巴斯Laura Bassi

劳拉·巴斯的父亲Giuseppe Bassi是一名律师，因此毫不奇怪，这个家庭相当富裕。Giuseppe为博洛尼亚的几位元老照管房屋和地产，因此与那座城市的贵族阶层交往甚密。巴斯的母亲是Rosa Cesári，关于她似乎所知甚少。Giuseppe和Rosa都原籍Scandiano，那是雷焦艾米利亚省的一个城镇。巴斯的祖父Giacinto Bassi曾在博洛尼亚经营一家药房，在那里配制和出售天然药物。巴斯是她父母唯一存活的孩子。

她五岁时开始接受教育，由她的表亲Lorenzo Stegani神父监督。他教她直到十三岁，给她上拉丁语、法语和算术课。在那个时代，一个受过教育的女孩会被教授法语和算术并不奇怪，但她被教授拉丁语却非常令人惊讶。这门语言对于进入科学事业以及许多其他事业的男性来说是必不可少的，但对于即使受过很好教育的女孩也会被认为毫无用处。Stegani为1732年出版的纪念巴斯的诗集撰写了序言[53]，题献为“致最博学多才的年轻女士巴斯 M C 巴斯”。

当巴斯十三岁时，她的父亲聘请了一位私人教师Gaetano Tacconi，他是医学院的教授，来教育她，她在七年时间里从他那里接受了广泛科目的优质教学。Tacconi是巴斯家族的私人医生，他对她的高级辅导从十三岁持续到她二十岁。据说她学习了解剖学、自然史、逻辑学、形而上学、哲学、化学、水力学、力学、代数、几何、古希腊语、拉丁语、法语和意大利语。当Tacconi意识到巴斯非凡的智力能力时，他向她介绍了高级科学主题，包括艾萨克·牛顿的Optics，她能够阅读拉丁文版本。

Tacconi对他的学生的能力印象非常深刻，通过他，她开始在博洛尼亚的学者圈中赢得声誉。Tacconi本人是博洛尼亚科学院院士，他邀请了几位身为博洛尼亚科学院院士的学者到巴斯家中，她与他们就哲学主题进行辩论。所有人都对她的辩论技巧以及她吸收知识的轻松程度印象深刻。其中一位博学之士是Prospero Lambertini。他出生于博洛尼亚，由罗马大学授予神学和法学博士学位。他于1728年被擢升为枢机主教，1731年返回博洛尼亚，在那里被教皇克莱门特十二世擢升为大主教。Lambertini成为巴斯的赞助人，为了展示他的门生，他安排她与四位来自博洛尼亚的教授于1732年4月17日进行辩论。辩论在博洛尼亚宏伟的Palazzo Pubblico举行，巴斯为四十九个哲学论题进行了辩护。Monique Frize写道[34]：-

十八世纪的论题不像现在这样是原创研究作品，而是对考生事先准备的一组问题的回答和讨论。考生首先用拉丁文对教授们提出的问题写出书面回答，然后由委员会阅读，最后进行口头辩护。这次考试相当不寻常。学生通常在大学里在教学人员面前为他们的论题辩护，绝对不是像这一天那样在如此众多且有声望的公众面前。这一事件的独特性在于，考生不是我们预期中的年轻男子，而是一位年轻女性，20岁的巴斯。……由于她的性别，巴斯必须以非常公开的方式表现，才能获得对其能力和知识的认可。

事实上，此时巴斯开始疏远塔科尼的建议。他曾希望她专注于涉及伦理学的学位论文，但巴斯在兰贝蒂尼的支持下，希望专注于与物理学相关的学位论文。事实上，有十八篇直接关于物理学；亚里士多德关于运动的观点，勒内·笛卡儿关于力不能超距作用的论断，伽利略和埃万杰利斯塔·托里拆利关于流体运动的观点，以及艾萨克·牛顿关于光和颜色的观点。她的成功使她在1732年5月获得了哲学博士学位，此后，被任命为哲学讲师，使她得以在博洛尼亚大学授课。一个月前，即1732年3月20日，她成为博洛尼亚科学院的第一位女性成员，当时科学院的十六名成员在听取（例如，见[27]）后一致同意接纳她：-

……Eustachio Manfredi先生、雅各波·巴尔托洛梅奥·贝卡里先生、阿本迪奥·科利纳神父等人就这位年轻女孩所展示的无限而令人难以置信的学识所作的陈述，超越了她的性别和年龄，并得到她多次就整个哲学所坚持的许多结论的支持，其生动、敏捷、言辞高贵和学识渊博，若非亲耳所闻，你简直无法相信。

物理学教授雅各波·巴尔托洛梅奥·贝卡里和哲学教授兼科学院秘书弗朗切斯科·玛丽亚·扎诺蒂被派去通知巴斯，她已被一致推选为科学院成员，并告知她“科学院对她的智慧的高度评价”。

大约此时，巴斯不再有塔科尼作为导师，便与Gabriele Manfredi一起学习高等数学和艾萨克·牛顿的物理学，Gabriele Manfredi是上述引文中提到的数学家Eustachio Manfredi的兄弟。让我们注意到，曼弗雷迪两兄弟会对有学术志向的女性抱有好感，因为他们的两个姐妹特蕾莎·曼弗雷迪（1679-1767）和玛德莱娜·曼弗雷迪（1673-1744）都学习过天文学、数学和拉丁语，并且像巴斯一样，在家中参与与学者的学术讨论。

此时科学院成员中似乎存在相当大的分歧，塔科尼和其他一些人致力于从亚里士多德到勒内·笛卡儿的自然哲学传统，而另一些人则是艾萨克·牛顿方法的坚定信徒。巴斯正变得越来越像一位牛顿主义者[27]：-

通过塑造巴斯公开呈现其学识的内容，一旦她的学位被授予并且她正顺利成为大学教授，‘研究所’的牛顿派成员便确立了她作为现代自然哲学家的地位。

1738年2月7日，巴斯在博洛尼亚的圣彼得罗尼奥大教堂与博洛尼亚大学自然科学讲师Giovanni Giuseppe Veratti结婚。Veratti是医生Francesco Veratti和Rosalia Calvoli九个孩子中的第四个，于1734年毕业于自然哲学和医学专业。他在1733年至1735年间提交了六篇学位论文，并当选为科学院院士。然而，他并不被认为像巴斯那样优秀。例如，博洛尼亚圣玛丽亚马焦雷教堂的教士Giovanni Giacomo Amadei写道[39]-

这桩婚姻并未让市民们感到满意，他们直言不讳地宣称如此，不仅因为新郎是个才能平平的人，更因为新娘，她若在任何隐修院保持童贞，本可以做得更好。

Marta Cavazza写道[9]：-

与她同时代的其他博学女性不同，巴斯的哲学和科学教育乃至职业生涯并非得益于她那位拥有医学学位的丈夫。相反，他们结婚时，她的数学知识远比他的更为渊博和前沿，因为她是从Gabriele Manfredi的学派习得的，而Gabriele Manfredi是无穷小微积分的意大利先驱之一。……她的文学文化知识，即希腊语、拉丁语和法语，除意大利语外，也比他的更为丰富，她还以阿卡迪亚风格创作了备受赞赏的应景诗。因此，在家庭生活和科学合作方面，平等伙伴关系所需的一切条件，在巴斯-Veratti夫妇的生活中都具备。这在18世纪的社会、法律和文化背景下不仅不寻常，几乎难以想象，在教宗国更是如此。

尽管在这个阶段她成为了巴斯 Veratti，但通常以巴斯之名为人所知，我们在本文余下部分将继续使用“巴斯”。这桩婚姻被博洛尼亚许多人视为错误，他们本着剑桥大学各学院研究员不能结婚并继续持有研究员职位的精神，认为巴斯不应被允许结婚并继续担任讲师职位。实际上，巴斯的讲师职位并不像表面看起来那样，因为它只允许她在特殊场合讲课，那时讲座对公众开放，任何人包括女性都可以参加。她不被允许给大学的常规班级讲课，那里学生全是男性。事实上，婚姻实际上改善了这种困难局面，因为巴斯现在被允许在家中讲课。

1739年，她请求博洛尼亚大学增加她的教学职责，但尽管得到Lambertini和博洛尼亚驻教廷大使秘书Flamino Scarselli的支持，她获得的只是在家中进行物理实验的设备经费。结婚后的许多年里，巴斯不得不在学术研究和照顾年幼子女之间分配时间。巴斯和Giuseppe Veratti有许多孩子；一些资料表明他们有十二个，但实际数字似乎更可能是九个。无论他们有多少孩子，只有五个活到成年。其中包括四个儿子，名叫Ciro、Paolo、Giovanni Francesco和Giacomo。Paolo（1753-1831）成为医生和实验物理学家，而Giacomo（1749-1818）和Giovanni Francesco（1738-1800）成为圣彼得罗尼奥大教堂的教士。关于Ciro（1744-1827）的职业生涯所知甚少，但他在1818年对Paolo提起法庭诉讼，要求获得出售巴斯-Veratti实验室所得的一半收益，该实验室在母亲去世后由Paolo继续使用。他们唯一活下来的女儿Caterina（1750-1768）成为修女，但在十八岁时去世。有三个名叫Caterina的女孩分别出生于1739年、1742年和1745年，但都在出生那年夭折。唯一在婴儿期去世的男孩是Flaminio，他于1751年出生并去世。

1740年8月17日，枢机主教兰贝蒂尼当选接替教皇克雷芒十二世，成为教皇本笃十四世。这意味着巴斯与她的赞助人的接触机会大大减少，但她仍然能够通过斯卡塞利与他通信。然而，有一位大力支持科学与学术的教皇，给这个国家带来了重要的发展。教皇本笃十四世提高学术研究水平的想法之一，是创建一个名为本笃会的学会。教皇挑选了24位科学家组成本笃会，并把每年向他提交一篇论文作为他们被接纳的一个条件。巴斯请斯卡塞利设法说服教皇任命她为第二十五位本笃会成员。这是一个艰难的决定，因为已被任命的24人中，有些人反对巴斯加入这个精选团体，而另一些人则支持她。最后，本笃十四世采取了一个折中方案，任命巴斯为第二十五位本笃会成员，但不给她与其他人相同的投票权。

巴斯生前受到的高度尊敬，从认识她的人所写的文字中看得非常清楚。让我们引用一段话来说明这一点。伏尔泰于1744年11月23日写信给巴斯（例如见[26]）：-

最尊敬的女士：我本想访问博洛尼亚，以便能对我的同胞说，我见过巴斯女士，但既然无缘获得这一荣幸，我相信我可以公正地把这份哲学敬意呈献在您脚下，以崇敬她那个世纪和女性的荣耀。由于伦敦没有巴斯，我更愿意加入你们的博洛尼亚科学院，而不是英格兰的那个，尽管后者可能产生过一位艾萨克·牛顿。

大约在1749年，她开始在自己家中授课。1755年6月14日她写信给斯卡塞利（例如见[26]）：-

我开始每天在自己家中讲授私人物理课程，每年八个月，至今已有六年。这些课程由我自己出资支持，除我丈夫讲授哲学时制作的设备外，所有必要设备都由我支付。这些课程声势越来越大，如今来参加的已是有相当教养的人，包括外国人，而不是年轻人。

巴斯的主要贡献在物理学方面，尽管她也写了一些其他科学主题的论文，包括两篇数学论文。当时，物理学仍在勒内·笛卡儿的观点与艾萨克·牛顿的观点之间分裂。正如我们上面提到的，巴斯是艾萨克·牛顿的坚定支持者，她的讲座旨在向学生介绍牛顿物理学。巴斯存于博洛尼亚博洛尼亚科学院的28篇论文中，十三篇关于物理学，十一篇关于水力学，两篇关于数学，一篇关于力学，一篇关于技术，一篇关于化学。这是一项了不起的成就，尽管不得不说其中原创内容很少。按照本笃会的条件，她每年提交一篇论文，前三篇是：On the compression of air（1746）；On the bubbles observed in free flowing liquids（1747）；和On bubbles of air that escape from fluids（1748）。虽然她的许多论文仍是手稿，从未发表，但她的一篇力学论文De problemate quodam mechanicoⓉ（一个力学问题）和一篇水力学论文De problemate quodam hydrometricoⓉ（水力学中的某个问题）于1757年发表在博洛尼亚研究所的Commentaries上。G B Logan在[39]中讨论了这些论文。关于那个力学问题，他写道：-

在这篇文章中，巴斯使用微分学来确定平面上沿任意曲线路径运动的两个或多个物体的质心运动。如果这两个物体的运动是直线而非曲线，那么就会面临艾萨克·牛顿在《自然哲学的数学原理》中所述的情形……巴斯的这项工作标志着科学院关于经典力学的学位论文中一种趋势的开端。

关于水力学问题，⟦N1⟧写道：-

一位技术人员，若知道运河中两个或多个开口的尺寸和位置，便能利用Guglielmini和Zedrini所建立的方法，计算出水下另一个形状相似的开口的位置和大小，该方法估算通过这些孔洞的水的平均流速和流量。然而，这种方法会导致一个含两个未知数的方程，需要进行一些简化。巴斯通过分析方法将方程化简为只含一个未知数，从而提供了这种简化。

颇为奇怪的是，巴斯进行实验工作的主要课题是电学，但她从未就此主题写过论文。在她家中设备齐全的实验室里，巴斯与她的丈夫合作研究电的医学用途。Monique Frize写道[34]：-

几位著名人士参观了巴斯-Veratti夫妇在家中建立的实验室。一些访客想观看巴斯或Giuseppe所做的实验；其他时候，他们与这对夫妇一起就当时有趣的问题进行实验。巴斯与男士们就她那个时代最受关注的一些思想进行了辩论，特别是关于电、气体和水的理论。Giuseppe研究了电对动物和人体的潜在治疗效果。

巴斯获得的最大荣誉是在1776年，她被任命为博洛尼亚大学实验物理学讲席。她并非轻易获得这一职位，而是在经过长时间辩论后，大学才同意任命她为教授。这一任命确实导致巴斯的丈夫现在正式成为她的助手。巴斯成为世界上任何大学中第一位被任命为物理学讲席的女性。这是她职业生涯中一个恰如其分的高峰，但遗憾的是她未能长久享受这一职位，因为仅过了一年多她便去世了。巴斯去世后，她的丈夫被任命为博洛尼亚大学实验物理学讲席。

巴斯的死亡是突然的，当时被描述为“胸部发作”，这可能表明心脏病发作，但其他原因也有可能。她的葬礼上，银桂冠被放置在她头上，在Benedettina成员的陪同下，她的遗体被送往Corpus Domini教堂，并在那里安葬。

Paula Findlen 在28中写道：-

巴斯的去世，如同她一生中的许多方面一样，并未被忽视。除了博洛尼亚及其他地方的学术团体成员为她撰写的众多悼词外，记载她成就的文字通告也出现在服务于文人共和国的期刊上。在博洛尼亚，研究所设立了一个委员会，为纪念他们最著名的女性成员的纪念碑举办了一场竞赛评审。到1781年，审议完成，由参议员Antonio Bovio Silvestri设计的大理石雕像工作正在进行中。经过多次讨论，决定将巴斯的画像放置在研究所航海室的门上方，那里存放着许多Marsili钟爱的船模。在她的一生中，巴斯不断提醒她的同事，她不仅仅是一个名义上的领袖，而是一位实践性的实验哲学家，既希望教学也从事研究。她长期努力奋斗，将自己的角色扩展到礼仪职能之外，在此过程中赢得了许多同时代人的尊重、钦佩，以及最重要的支持。然而，死亡再次将她降格为礼仪性的位置。她的肖像保存在大理石中，高高地安置在研究所成员经过的门上方，她重新获得了科学缪斯的角色。她以雕像之姿慈祥地俯视着昔日的同事，戴着银桂冠下葬，巴斯重新进入了她曾从中走出的神话领域。

让我们以引用Alberto Elena [26]的话作为结束：-

……她是18世纪智力繁荣的博洛尼亚中一位极其重要的人物，也是牛顿自然哲学在意大利各邦国本土化过程中的主要角色之一。虽然毫无疑问，这座城市本身为了提升自己的荣耀而突出了巴斯的名声，但我们对她的物理研究和牛顿主义承诺所知的少量信息足以表明，她理应在科学史上占有一席之地。

Laura Bassi's father, Giuseppe Bassi, was a lawyer and so, not surprisingly, the family were quite well off. Giuseppe looked after houses and estates for several of the senators in Bologna so was much involved with the aristocracy of that city. Laura Bassi's mother was Rosa Cesári, about whom little appears to be known. Both Giuseppe and Rosa were originally from Scandiano, a town in the province of Reggio Emilia. Laura's paternal grandfather, Giacinto Bassi, had run a chemists shop in Bologna, where natural-based medicines were prepared and sold. Laura was her parents' only surviving child.

When she was five years old she began her education supervised by her cousin Father Lorenzo Stegani. He taught her until she was thirteen years old giving her lessons on Latin, French and arithmetic. It is not surprising that an educated girl at this time would be taught French and arithmetic but it is very surprising that she was taught Latin. This language, essential for men entering a scientific career, and many other careers, would have been considered useless for even a very well educated girl. Stegani wrote the preface [53] to the collection of poems published in honour of Laura Bassi in 1732, addressing it "To the most learned and erudite young lady Laura M C Bassi."

When Laura reached the age of thirteen, her father employed a private tutor, Gaetano Tacconi, who was a professor at the College of Medicine, to educate her and she received excellent teaching in a large range of subjects from him over a period of seven years. Tutoring at an advanced level by Tacconi, the family doctor of the Bassi family, continued from age thirteen until she was twenty. She is said to have studied anatomy, natural history, logic, metaphysics, philosophy, chemistry, hydraulics, mechanics, algebra, geometry, ancient Greek, Latin, French, and Italian. As Tacconi realised Bassi's remarkable intellectual abilities he introduced her to advanced science topics, including Isaac Newton's Optics which she could read in the Latin.

Tacconi was very impressed with the abilities of his pupil and through him she began to gain a reputation among the circle of scholars in Bologna. Several of the scholars who were members of the Academy of Science of Bologna were invited to Bassi's home by Tacconi, himself a member of the Academy, and she entered into disputations with them on philosophical topics. All were impressed by her debating skills and also by the ease with which she assimilated knowledge. One of these learned men was Prospero Lambertini. He had been born in Bologna and awarded a doctorate in theology and law by the University of Rome. He was elevated to cardinal in 1728, and in 1731 he returned to Bologna where he was elevated to an archbishop by Pope Clement XII. Lambertini became Bassi's patron and, to show off his protégé, set up a debate between her and four professors from Bologna on 17 April 1732. The debate was held in the grand Palazzo Pubblico in Bologna and Bassi defended forty-nine philosophical theses. Monique Frize writes [34]:-

Eighteenth century Theses were not pieces of original research as they are now, but answers and a discussion on a set of questions the candidate prepared ahead of time. The candidate first produced written responses in Latin to the questions posed by the professors, which were then read by a committee, and finally defended orally. This particular examination was quite out of the ordinary. Students normally defended their Thesis at the university in the presence of the teaching staff, definitely not in the presence of such a large and prestigious public as was the case on this day. The uniqueness of this event is explained by the fact that the candidate was not a young man, as we would expect, but a young woman, 20 year old Laura Bassi. ... Because of her sex, Laura had to perform in a very public manner in order to obtain recognition of her abilities and knowledge.

In fact at this time Bassi began to distance herself from Tacconi's advice. He had wanted her to concentrate on theses involving ethics, but Bassi, supported by Lambertini. wanted to concentrate on theses relating to physics. In fact eighteen were directly on physics; the ideas of Aristotle on motion, of Descartes' claim that force could not act at a distance, of Galileo and of Torricelli on the motion of fluids, and of Newton on light and colour. Her success led to the award of a doctorate in philosophy in May 1732 and, following this, an appointment as Reader in Philosophy allowed her to lecture at the University of Bologna. A month earlier, on 20 March 1732, she had become the first female member of the Academy of Science of Bologna when sixteen members of the Academy unanimously agreed that she be admitted after they had heard (see, for example, [27]):-

... the presentation that Signor Eustachio Manfredi, Signor Jacopo Bartolomeo Beccari, Father Abundio Collina, and others gave regarding the infinite and incredible erudition demonstrated by this young girl, beyond her sex and age, supported by the many conclusions that she sustained many times about all of philosophy, with such liveliness, quickness, nobility of speech, and profound learning that you would not be able to believe it if you had not heard her.

Jacopo Bartolomeo Beccari, the professor of physics, and Francesco Maria Zanotti, the professor of philosophy and secretary of the Academy, were sent to inform Bassi that she had been unanimously elected a member of the Academy and inform her of the "high esteem that the Academy had of her intelligence."

Around this time Bassi, no longer having Tacconi as a tutor, studied higher mathematics and Newton's physics with Gabriele Manfredi, the brother of the mathematician Eustachio Manfredi mentioned in the above quote. Let us note that the two Manfredi brothers would be well disposed to academically minded women since their two sisters Teresa Manfredi (1679-1767) and Maddelena Manfredi (1673-1744) had both studied astronomy, mathematics and Latin, and like Bassi took part in learned discussions with academics in their home.

There seems to have been quite a split in members of the Academy at this time with Tacconi and some others being committed to the natural philosophy tradition from Aristotle to Descartes while others were firm believers in Newton's approach. Bassi was becoming more and more a Newtonian [27]:-

By shaping the content of Bassi's public presentations of her learning, once her degree had been conferred and she was well on her way to becoming a university professor, the Newtonian members of the 'Istituto' established her status as a modern natural philosopher.

On 7 February 1738 Bassi married Giovanni Giuseppe Veratti, a lecturer in science at the University of Bologna, in the Basilica San Petronio in Bologna. The fourth of nine children of the physician Francesco Veratti and Rosalia Calvoli, Veratti had graduated in natural philosophy and medicine in 1734. He had presented six dissertations between 1733 and 1735, and was elected to the Academy. He was not, however, considered to be as good a scientist as Bassi. For example, Giovanni Giacomo Amadei, a canon of the church of S Maria Maggiore in Bologna, wrote [39]-

This marriage does not fill with satisfaction the citizens, who did not mince words in declaring it so, not only because of the bridegroom, who is a man of half merit, but more because of the bride, who might have done better if she had remained virgin in any retreat.

Marta Cavazza writes [9]:-

Unlike other learned women of her time, Laura Bassi was not indebted to her husband, who had a degree in medicine, for her philosophical and scientific education or indeed for her career. On the contrary, when they married, her knowledge of mathematics was far greater and much more contemporary than his, since she had acquired it from the school of Gabriele Manfredi, one of the Italian pioneers of infinitesimal calculus. ... Her knowledge of literary culture, i.e., Greek, Latin, and French, in addition to Italian, was also greater than his and she composed highly appreciated occasional verse in the Arcadian fashion. Thus, all the conditions necessary for a relationship between equal partners, in terms of family life and scientific collaboration, were present in the life of the Bassi-Veratti couple. This was not only unusual but almost inconceivable in the social, juridical, and cultural context of the 18th century, much less in the Pontifical State.

Despite becoming Laura Veratti at this stage, she is usually known by the name Bassi and we will continue to use 'Bassi' through the rest of this article. The marriage was considered wrong by many in Bologna who felt, in the same spirit as fellows in Colleges at the University of Cambridge could not marry and continue to hold their fellowships, Bassi should not be allowed to marry and continue to hold a lecturing position. Actually Bassi's lecturing position was not all that it might seem, for it only allowed her to lecture on special occasions when the lecture was open to the public when anyone, including women, could attend. She had not been allowed to lecture to regular classes at the university where the students would all be men. In fact marriage actually improved this difficult situation, for Bassi was now allowed to lecture in her home.

In 1739 she requested that the University of Bologna increase her teaching duties but, despite support from Lambertini and Flamino Scarselli, the secretary to the Bolognese ambassador at the papal court, all she was granted was funds for equipment to conduct physics experiments in her home. For quite a number of years after her marriage Bassi had to divide her time between academic studies and caring for young children. Laura and Giuseppe Veratti had many children; some sources suggest that they had twelve but it seems more likely that the actual number was nine. However many children they had, only five reached adulthood. Of these were four sons named Ciro, Paolo, Giovanni Francesco, and Giacomo. Paolo (1753-1831) became a physician and experimental physicist while Giacomo (1749-1818) and Giovanni Francesco (1738-1800) became canons in the Basilica of San Petronio. Little is known of the career of Ciro (1744-1827) but he filed a court case against Paolo in 1818 claiming half the proceeds from the sale of the Bassi-Veratti laboratory which Paolo had continued to use after his mother's death. Their only surviving daughter, Caterina (1750-1768), became a nun but died at the age of eighteen. Three girls named Caterina had been born in 1739, 1742 and 1745 but had all died in the year of their birth. The only boy who died as a baby was Flaminio who was born and died in 1751.

On 17 August 1740, Cardinal Lambertini was elected to succeed Pope Clement XII becoming Pope Benedict XIV. This meant that Bassi had far less access to her patron, but nevertheless she was still able to communicate with him via Scarselli. However having a pope who was a strong supporter of science and scholarship led to important developments in the country. One of Pope Benedict XIV's ideas to improve the level of scholarly research was to create a society called the Benedettini. The pope picked 24 scientists to form the Benedettini, and made a condition of their acceptance that they had to submit one paper per year to him. Bassi asked Scarselli to try to persuade the pope to appoint her as the twenty-fifth Benedettini. This was a difficult decision since some of the twenty-four who had already been appointed were opposed to Bassi joining the select group while others supported her. In the end Benedict XIV went for a compromise solution by appointing Bassi as the twenty-fifth Benedettini but not giving her the same voting rights as the others.

The high esteem in which Bassi was held during her lifetime is very evident from the writings by those who knew her. Let us give one quote to illustrate this. Voltaire wrote to Bassi on 23 November 1744 (see, for example, [26]):-

Most Honoured Lady: I would like to visit Bologna so that I might say to my fellow citizens that I have seen Signora Bassi, but, deprived of this honour, I trust that I may with justice cast at your feet this philosophical homage in reverence to the glory of her century and sex. As there is no Bassi in London I should more happily enter your Academy of Bologna than the English one, even though it may have produced a Newton.

Around 1749 she began giving lessons in her own home. She wrote to Scarselli on 14 June 1755 (see, for example, [26]):-

It is six years since I began giving private physics classes in my house daily, for eight months of the year. I support these myself, paying for all the necessary equipment apart from that which my husband had made when he was lecturing in philosophy. The classes have gathered such momentum that they are now attended by people of considerable education, including foreigners, rather than by youths.

Bassi's main contributions were made in physics although she wrote papers on a number of other scientific subjects including two mathematics papers. This was a time when physics was still divided between the views of Descartes and those of Newton. As we mentioned above, Bassi was a staunch supporter of Newton and her lectures were designed to introduce her students to Newtonian physics. Of 28 papers by Bassi which are held in the Bologna Academy of Sciences in Bologna, thirteen are on physics, eleven are on hydraulics, two are on mathematics, one is on mechanics, one is on technology, and one is on chemistry. This is a remarkable achievement, although one would have to say that they contain little that is original. By the conditions of the Benedettini, she submitted a paper each year, the first three being: On the compression of air (1746); On the bubbles observed in free flowing liquids (1747); and On bubbles of air that escape from fluids (1748). Although many of her papers remain in manuscript, having never been published, one of her papers on mechanics De problemate quodam mechanico Ⓣ and one on hydraulics De problemate quodam hydrometrico Ⓣ were published in the Commentaries of the Bologna Institute in 1757. G B Logan writes about these in [39]. On the problem in mechanics he writes:-

In this article, Bassi used differential calculus to determine the motion of the centre of mass of two or more bodies moving along any curved paths in a plane. If the motion of the two bodies was rectilinear rather than curvilinear, one was then confronted with the case stated by Newton in his 'Principia Mathematica' ... This work by Bassi signals the beginning of a trend in dissertations concerning the classical mechanics given at the Academy.

On the problem on hydrometrics, Logan writes:-

A technician, knowing the dimensions and positions of two and more openings in a canal, would have been able to calculate the position and size of another opening of similar shape under the water, using the method established by Guglielmini and Zedrini, which estimated the average velocity and quantity of water going though these holes. However, this method, which led to an equation with two unknowns, required some simplification. This simplification was provided by Bassi when she reduced the equation to one unknown by the analytic method.

Rather strangely, the main subject on which Bassi undertook experimental work was electricity yet she never wrote a paper on the topic. In a well equipped laboratory in her home, Bassi collaborated with her husband on medical uses of electricity. Monique Frize writes [34]:-

Several famous men visited the laboratory established by the Bassi-Veratti couple in their home. Some visitors wanted to view experiments done by Laura or Giuseppe; at other times they performed experiments with the couple on interesting problems of the day. Laura debated with men on several of the ideas that were of prime interest in her time, especially those regarding theories of electricity, gases, and water. Giuseppe studied the potential therapeutic effect of electricity on animals and on the human body

The greatest honour given to Bassi was in 1776 when she was appointed to the Chair of Experimental Physics at Bologna. She did not achieve this easily but only after a lengthy debate did the University agree to appoint her to a professorship. This appointment did have the consequence that Bassi's husband now officially became her assistant. Bassi became the first woman appointed to a chair of physics at any university in the world. It was a fitting high point for her career, but sadly she did not live long to enjoy the position for she died just over a year later. Her husband was appointed to the Chair of Experimental Physics at Bologna after Bassi died.

Bassi's death was sudden and described at the time as "an attack in the chest" which may indicate a heart attack but other causes are also possible. Silver laurels were placed on her head for her funeral and, accompanied by the members of the Benedettina, her body was taken to the church of Corpus Domini where she was buried.

Paula Findlen writes in [28]:-

Bassi's death, like so many aspects of her life, did not go unmarked. Aside from the numerous eulogies given in her honour by members of the learned community, in Bologna and elsewhere, written notices of her accomplishments appeared in the journals serving the Republic of Letters. In Bologna, the Institute established a commission to judge a competition for a monument to their most famous female member. By 1781, the deliberations complete, work on a marble statue designed by Senator Antonio Bovio Silvestri was under way. After much discussion, it was decided that the image of Bassi should be placed above the door to the Nautical Room in the Institute, where many of Marsili's beloved model ships were housed. During her lifetime Bassi had constantly reminded her colleagues that she was not simply a figurehead, but a practicing experimental philosopher who wished to teach as well as perform research. She had fought long and hard to expand her role beyond its ceremonial functions, earning the respect, admiration, and, most important, support of many contemporaries in the process. Death, however, relegated her once again to a ceremonial position. Her likeness preserved in marble, positioned high above the doors through which the members of the Institute passed, she reclaimed her role as scientific muse. Smiling benignly down upon her former colleagues in effigy, and buried wearing her silver crown of laurels, Bassi re-entered the realm of mythology from which she had emerged.

Let us end by quoting from Alberto Elena [26]:-

... she was a figure of the greatest importance in the intellectually flourishing Bologna of the eighteenth century and one of the leading characters in the acclimatisation of Newtonian natural philosophy in the Italian states. While there can be no doubt that the city itself accentuated Bassi's fame in order to promote its own glory, the little we know about her physical researches and her Newtonian commitment is enough to make it clear that she deserves a place in the history of science.