Introduction E3 The idea of "discovery"—of exploring the unknown, of finding and attempting novel things, of creating new objects and artifacts, of innovative challenges to the conventional — has been constant in the history of humankind and of Europe. The passion to discover is one of the most common and permanent traits of european history and culture. Along the centuries its pursuit has united the lands and the peoples of the various european nations in common enterprises. The history of the development of science and of technological progress is truly a chapter of international cooperation in the history of Europe.   This Exhibition tries to show not only the historical continuity of the permanent efforts to make discoveries, but also the richness and the multiform variety of this very european passion. Above all, it tries to show that the making of discoveries and inventions lies at the heart of Europe's cultural heritage. Archives in Europe abound with documen...