The Accademia dei Fisiocritici was founded in 1691 by the physician Pirro Maria Gabbrielli (1643-1705) and other teaching staff of Siena University. Members of the association met to discuss scientific topics and study natural phenomena through experimentation: since 1761 the results of their research have been published in “Gli Atti dell’Accademia”, a journal that continues online as the “Journal of the Siena Academy of Sciences”.