The Mario Foscarini Liceo Museum is dedicated to Abbot Anton Maria Traversi, the Institute's first Provveditore (Dean), an excellent physicist as well as a teacher. On display are 203 physics instruments (out of a total of 405) both for didactic use and specially built to allow the scientific research of the physics teachers who taught in the 19th century.
The Mechanics section has many valuable instruments, made by 19th
century craftsmen, such as Dr. Miotti's Parabolic Motion Apparatus.
The section dedicated to Thermodynamics has its strong point in
the Great Locomotive Model, created by the "engineer" Francesco
Cobres. It is a real miniature steam locomotive that faithfully
reproduces the locomotive used for the first Italian railway
(Naples-Portici, 1839).
The Acoustic and Optical Section,
divided into two Subsections (Optical and Acoustic), collects various
pieces of great interest such as the complete Phonograph with trumpet
and engraved cylinders, still perfectly functional, the Chladni figure
apparatus and the parabolic mirrors with support .
The Fluid
Mechanics section is divided into two Subsections (Liquids and Gases)
both with equipment of great historical importance. Just think, for
example, of the Magdeburg hemispheres in brass.
The
Electromagnetism Section is particularly rich in instruments from the
early 19th century (therefore contemporary with the birth of modern
electromagnetic theory). Among the many very precious apparatuses, the
old spark gap made by Francesco Cobres, and a Galvanometer by Nobili
built by Nobili himself are worth mentioning.