Resumen de Mathematical physics in Italy in the 19th century: the Theory of Elasticity
In the second half of 19th century there was in Italy an important group of mathematicians busied with mathematical physics. The most prominent of them are Enrico Betti (1823-1892), Eugenio Beltrami (1836-1900), Gregorio Ricci-Curbastro (1843-1925), Valentino Cerruti (1850-1909) and others, whose activity will persevere for many years in the 20th century: Vito Volterra (1860-1940), Carlo Somigliana (1860-1955) and Tullio Levi Civita (1873-1941).
In the paper I speak of the contribution of this group to the theory of elasticity.
Probably the best representative writing on continuum mechanics and elasticity as mathematical physics theories is the book Teoria della elasticità by Enrico Betti (1872-1873). The book is interesting not only for the particular results found but also, may be mainly, for its framework which will become paradigmatic for the development of subsequent texts on elasticity, not only Italian.
