Marcello Pera

Marcello Pera

Biographical Notes

Date of birth: 28 January 1943.
Place of birth: Lucca, Tuscany.

Education

• Accountancy degree from
  "F. Carrara" High School in Lucca, 1962.
• Degree summa cum laude in Philosophy
  from the University of Pisa, 1972.
• Foreign languages: English

Professional experience

• Banca Toscana (Lucca, 1962-1963; Agliana, Pistoia, 1963-1964).
• Chamber of Commerce, (Lucca, 1964-1973).

Academic experience

• Assistant Professor, Philosophy of Science, University of Pisa, 1976-1980.
• Associate Professor, Philosophy of Science, University of Pisa, 1980-1989.
• Full Professor, Theoretic Philosophy, University of Catania, 1989-1992.
• Full Professor, Philosophy of Science, University of Pisa, 1992.

Political experience

• Coordinator of the "Convention for Liberal Reform" (1995).
• Senator during the 13th Parliament, 1996-2001; elected in Lucca with the ‘Polo delle Libertà’ [Freedom Alliance].
• Deputy Leader of the Forza Italia parliamentary group, 1996-2001.
• Member of the Standing Committee on Education and Cultural Issues from May 1996 to March 1997.
• Member of the Standing Committee on the Judiciary from December 1997 to the end of the legislature.
• Member of the Joint Committee on Constitutional Reform from February 1997 to the end of proceedings.
• Member of the Forza Italia Steering Committee.
• Head of the Forza Italia Judiciary Department.
• Re-elected to the Senate in the 2001 General Election for the 14th Parliament in the Lucca constituency; list ‘Casa delle Libertà’ [Freedom House].
• Elected President of the Senate on 30 May 2001.
• Re-elected to the Senate in the 2006 General Election for the 15th Parliament in Emilia Romagna
• Member of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Senate

Research

• Visiting Fellow, Center for Philosophy of Science, University of Pittsburgh, U.S.A., 1984;
• Visiting Fellow, The Van Leer Foundation, Jerusalem, Israel, 1987;
• Visiting Fellow, Department of Linguistics and Philosophy, MIT, Cambridge, Mass, 1990;
• Visiting Fellow, Center for the Philosophy of Natural and Social Sciences, London School of Economics, 1995-1996.

Contributions to scientific magazines and editorial activity

Member of the advisory panels of and contributor to several journals, among which Physis, Rivista internazionale di storia della scienza (1990-); Epistemologia (1990-); Perspectives on Science, Philosophical, Historical, Social, (1992-)

Contributions to Italian daily and weekly papers

• L'Espresso (1980-1984);
• Il Corriere della Sera (1984-1988);
• La Stampa (1988-1993);
• Panorama (1994-1995);
• Il Messaggero (1994-)

Scientific work

Sen. Pera has participated in many scientific workshops, conferences and congresses organised by universities and research institutes in Italy and abroad (among others Pittsburgh, Montreal, Berkeley, Thessaloniki, Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Coimbra, Cincinnati, Baltimore, Harvard, Berlin, and London).

He has written a number of articles and essays for Italian and international journals, in particular concerning scientific method, theory of evidence, and scientific argumentation. He is the author of a number of books, including The Ambiguous Frog. The Galvani-Volta Controversy on Animal Electricity (Princeton University Press, 1991) and The Discourses of Science (Chicago University Press, Chicago 1994); he has edited several publications, including Rational Changes in Science (co-edited by J. Pitt, Reidel, Dordrecht-Boston 1987), Persuading Science. The Art of Scientific Rhetoric (co-edited by W.Shea, History Publications-USA, Canton, Massachusetts, 1991) and Scientific Controversies (co-edited P. Machamer and A. Baltas, Oxford University Press, Oxford 2000).
In 2005, he co-authored a book with the then Card. Joseph Ratzinger (now Pope Benedict XVI) entitled “Senza radici” (“Without Roots”), and is the author of the foreword of the book by the Holy Father “The Europe of Benedict”.

In April 2005 Senator Marcello Pera was awarded the Fulbright Gold Medal.