The scientific studies of the Italian physician and naturalist Antonio Vallisneri
(1661–1730) were concerned with the cultural and religious implications of the debate on
fossils in the early decades of the eighteenth century. In De’ Corpi Marini he summarized the
main diluvial theories but declined to support them. He explained the presence of fossils in
strata in mountainous regions as the result of localized multiple flood and emersion sequences,
and restricted the direct action of God to the biblical Deluge. This theory clearly contradicted
the biblical interpretation provided by Catholic orthodoxy, which affirmed the existence of a
single global Deluge. Vallisneri therefore had to gloss over its real meaning and use a careful
self-censorship system, a strategy that he frequently used in his books. The comparison with
the work of several Italian and European authors had great relevance to Vallisneri’s theories.
He continually exchanged correspondence and natural objects with some of the most outstanding
of the eighteenth century natural philosophers. This involvement with other scholars deeply
influenced his thought, and helped him to reach a pre-eminent status in the Italian scientific
community of the time.