Prof. Ferdinando Auricchio has been elected National Member of the Accademia Nazionale delle Scienze, the only national scientific Academy continuously in function since its establishment. It was founded in 1782 on the initiative of the mathematician and hydraulic engineer Antonio M. Lorgna. The founding Members were, besides Lorgna, the forty most distinguished scientists of all over Italy, including Lazzaro Spallanzani, Alessandro Volta, Lodovico de Lagrange, Ruggero Giuseppe Boscovich: hence the current name Society of the XL, Società dei Quaranta.
