Olinto Dini ( 1805–1866 ) physicist by choice, naturalist by fate

The naturalist Olinto Dini (18051866) is known within the Tuscan scientific panorama of the 19th century for his studies of the geology of the Garfagnana Valley in Northern Tuscany (Italy).He retired from a teaching position in physics at the University of Pisa, for family reasons, at a very early stage of his scientific career.Nevertheless, he maintained close contacts with the academic world in Pisa, as testified by the correspondence preserved within the "Olinto Dini" collection, housed at the library of the Domus Galilaeana in Pisa.This paper gives a brief overview of his main contributions in geology based on material from these archives.