Paolo Rossi (b. Urbino, 1923) taught History of Philosophy at the University of Florence. His publications include: Francis Bacon. From magic to science (Bari, 1957); Clavis universalis. Arts of memory and combinational logic from Lullo to Leibniz (Bologna, 1983); Spiders and ants: an apologia of the history of science (Bologna, 1986); The Past, Memory, Oblivion (Bologna, 1991, winner of the 1992 Viareggio Prize); and, Another Present (Bologna, 2000). He is a member of the Accademia dei Lincei. In 1985 he received the Sarton Medallion for history of science from the American History of Science Society.