Livio Catullo Stecchini (6 October 1913 – September 1979) was an Italian professor of ancient history at Paterson State Teachers College (now William Paterson University) in

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

. He wrote on the history of science, ancient weights and measures (

metrology Metrology is the scientific study of measurement. It establishes a common understanding of Unit of measurement, units, crucial in linking human activities. Modern metrology has its roots in the French Revolution's political motivation to stan ...

), and the history of

cartography Cartography (; from , 'papyrus, sheet of paper, map'; and , 'write') is the study and practice of making and using maps. Combining science, aesthetics and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality (or an imagined reality) can ...

in antiquity. He is best known as a defender of the theories of

Immanuel Velikovsky Immanuel Velikovsky (; rus, Иммануи́л Велико́вский, p=ɪmənʊˈil vʲɪlʲɪˈkofskʲɪj; 17 November 1979) was a Russian-American psychoanalyst, writer, and catastrophist. He is the author of several books offering Pseudohi ...

and for his numerological theories about the dimensions of the Great Pyramids.

Career

Originally a classicist, he became a student of Angelo Segrè at the

University of Catania The University of Catania () is a university located in Catania, Sicily. Founded in 1434, it is the oldest university in Sicily, the 13th oldest in Italy, and the 29th oldest in the world. With over 38,000 enrolled students, it is the largest uni ...

, then attended the

University of Freiburg The University of Freiburg (colloquially ), officially the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg (), is a public university, public research university located in Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The university was founded in 1 ...

, where he studied the philosophy of Husserl and attended the lectures of

Heidegger Martin Heidegger (; 26 September 1889 – 26 May 1976) was a German philosopher known for contributions to phenomenology, hermeneutics, and existentialism. His work covers a range of topics including metaphysics, art, and language. In April ...

and Oskar Becker. Eventually he focused on the work of Fritz Prinsheim which was concentrated on the contract of sale in ancient times. Had he known that in the hands of Kenneth Kitchen the sequence of blessings and curses in ancient contracts was eventually to become one of the most important dating tools of modern archaeology, Stecchini might not have focused on the clauses relating to measures. As it happened it was this focus that led Otto Lenel to allow him to read a paper on the length of miles in the Syro-Roman Law Book. After the Freiburg group was disbanded by Hitler he returned to Italy where he received a doctorate in the field of Roman Law. He became assistant to the chair of history of Roman Law at the University of Rome and a member of the Institute of Roman and Oriental Law of that University where he was influenced by Edoardo Volterra holder of the chair of Oriental Law there. He fled the Fascist regimes of Europe to the United States and worked for a doctorate in Ancient History at

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher lear ...

under Werner Jaeger. Jaeger suggested that he write his thesis on the concept of '' akribea'' or precision in Greek thought. His Ph.D. dissertation from 1946 was entitled "On the Origin of Money in Greece". From there, he went to the study of Greek monetary weights, the operation of Greek mints and the dimensions of Greek temples. From there he turned to the study of ancient geography and geodesy. His knowledge was specialized in agrarian measures in

cuneiform Cuneiform is a Logogram, logo-Syllabary, syllabic writing system that was used to write several languages of the Ancient Near East. The script was in active use from the early Bronze Age until the beginning of the Common Era. Cuneiform script ...

tablets, rates of money exchange in Greek tablets, and the volume of jars in Egyptian papyri, cited in major periodicals such as ''Classical Philology''. He also wrote more general works, some subsequently republished, such as his analysis of

Herodotus Herodotus (; BC) was a Greek historian and geographer from the Greek city of Halicarnassus (now Bodrum, Turkey), under Persian control in the 5th century BC, and a later citizen of Thurii in modern Calabria, Italy. He wrote the '' Histori ...

in "The Persian Wars"

Controversy

Stecchini's work included many controversial elements, and he complained he was ignored by fellow scholars. His defence of

in the September 1963 issue of

American Behavioral Scientist ''American Behavioral Scientist'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal that publishes papers in the fields of social and behavioral sciences. The managing editor is Laura Lawrie. It was established in 1957 by Alfred de Grazia and is currently ...

(republished in 1966 as ''The Velikovsky Affair'') undoubtedly also contributed to this. Most scholars consider his unpublished work on metrology, based on his work on ancient

numismatics Numismatics is the study or collection of currency, including coins, tokens, paper money, medals, and related objects. Specialists, known as numismatists, are often characterized as students or collectors of coins, but the discipline also inclu ...

, as

numerology Numerology (known before the 20th century as arithmancy) is the belief in an occult, divine or mystical relationship between a number and one or more coinciding events. It is also the study of the numerical value, via an alphanumeric system, ...

or pseudoscientific metrology. His method consists of starting with an assumption, namely that all ancient measures are by definition related. It is an old and intriguing idea, but one for which no proof has been found. Based on numerical analysis of data, he reaches his conclusion (in "A History of Measures"):

I have solved the inner rationale of ancient and medieval units of length, and by implication, of all units of measure, by discovering two facts: :a) that there were four fundamental types of foot related as 15:16:17:18, :b) that each of these types existed in two varieties related as the cube root of 24/the cube root of 25.

Stecchini's analysis of the geometry and methods for constructing the Great Pyramid were interpreted for a popular audience in Peter Tompkins' ''Secrets of the Great Pyramid'' with Stecchini's "Notes of the Relation of Ancient Measures to the Great Pyramid," in an appendix to the book.

Bibliography

* Alfred de Grazia, Ralph E. Juergens, Stecchini L.C. (Eds.) (1978). ''The Velikovsky Affair - Scientism versus Science''. 2ed., Metron Publications, Princeton, New Jersey. *

Michael D. Gordin Michael Dan Gordin (born November 3, 1974) is an American science historian and Slavist. Born in New Jersey, Gordin studied at Harvard University with a bachelor's degree in 1996 and a doctorate in 2001. From 2003 he was at Princeton University, ...

, The Pseudoscience Wars. Immanuel Velikovsky and the Birth of the Modern Fringe, 2012

References

External links

preserves some scattered material, his essay "The Deluge as Metaphor," an essay on the origin of money in Greece, on the relation between Greece and Anatolia in "Gyges and Homer", "A History of Measures", and in "The Key to Ancient Architecture," Stecchini's analytic measurements of the Parthenon, etc.
THE INCONSTANT HEAVENS
Accessed 2 March 2024. {{DEFAULTSORT:Stecchini, Livio C. Historians of science Harvard University alumni 1913 births 1979 deaths 20th-century Italian historians Italian expatriates in Germany Italian emigrants to the United States William Paterson University faculty