Descriptions of volcanic eruptions, even quite accurate ones, are present in history in Roman times starting from Pliny the Elder and Pliny the Younger (around 2000 years ago), who observed the eruptions of Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields.
The first scientific observation of an eruption, however, dates back to the late 19th century, by Giuseppe Mercalli (Professor of Volcanology and Seismology at the University of Naples) and Orazio Silvestri (Professor of Geology and Mineralogy at the University of Catania).
The scientists observed the different phases of the 1888-90 eruption of Vulcano first hand, defining its eruptive mechanisms, the chemical, physical and petrographic properties of the erupted magma, and taking, for scientific purposes, the first existing photographs of an explosive “vulcanian” eruption.
