Description
About the Editors

In this volume, major events and personalities of 20th-century physics are portrayed through recollections and historiographical works of one of the most prominent figures of European science: Edoardo Amaldi (Carpaneto, 1908 – Roma, 1989). A former student of Enrico Fermi, Edoardo himself was one of the leading figures in 20th-century Italian science and a leading personality of physical research and science policy in post-war Italy. He devoted part of his career to documenting—as a witness and as a historian—some significant moments of 20th-century science.

The focus of the book is Europe, ranging from nuclear research in Rome in the 1930s to particle physics at CERN, and includes biographies of physicists such as Ettore Majorana, Bruno Touschek and Fritz Houtermans.
Giovanni Battimelli (Voghera, 1948– ) is a researcher at the Department of Physics of Rome University “La Sapienza”. His main research interests in the history of science have focused on topics in late nineteenth and twentieth century theoretical physics, and more particularly on the Italian scenario. He is a member of the editorial board of Rivista di Storia della Scienza, and has recently edited, with M. De Maria, the memoirs of Edoardo Amaldi Da via Panisperna all'America, Rome 1997.

Giovanni Paoloni (Rome, 1956– ) is a researcher at the “Scuola Speciale per Archivisti e Bibliotecari” of Rome University “La Sapienza”. He is interested in the history and archival heritage of R&D institutions in nineteenth and twentieth century Italy. He has been the editor of: Vito Volterra e il suo tempo (1860–1940), Rome 1990; Energia, ambiente, innovazione. Dal CNRN all'ENEA, Rome 1992; and Guglielmo Marconi e l'Italia, Rome 1996, with R. Simili.

Authors

20th Century Physics: Essays and Recollections