VAILATI, GIOVANNI. - Mathematician and historian of the philosophy of science, b. at Crema on 24 April 1863, d. at Rome on 14 May 1909.
Endowed with a lively interest in philosophical problems, pragmatism (v.), which in the early years of the century exerted a particular fascination upon the successors of positivism who did not accept idealist speculation and yet wished to profess the originality of the life of consciousness. Also endowed with a profound humanistic culture, his scientific work is especially connected with the problems of mathematical logic, in which he continued the brilliant work of his teacher G. Peano, and with the philosophy of language.
Philosophical writings: Gli strumenti della conoscenza (Lanciano 1911); Il pragmatismo (ibid. 1912). His principal studies in science, the history of science, and philosophy (213 in all) were collected under the editorship of M. Calderoni, U. Ricci, and G. Vacca, in the volume Scritti di G. V (Leipzig-Florence 1911).