Giorgio Sironi – författare

The thirtieth anniversary of the death of Beppo Occhialini, the cosmic-ray physicist associated among other things to the fundamental discoveries of the electron-positron pairs and of the pion thanks to his contributions to the development of the controlled cloud chamber and of new nuclear emulsions, is the occasion to publish his memoirs on the main events of his scientific life, which he dictated shortly before his death. This second edition of The Scientific Legacy of Beppo Occhialini takes us by the hand to appreciate the admiration if not the veneration he had for Patrick Blackett, the ironic rudeness of Lord Rutherford, or the troubled relationship with Cecil Powell. A particularly thorny aspect concerns the role played by some physicists during the Second World War and the way Occhialini elaborated the complex personal situations experienced by each of them. Occhialini’s memoirs are enriched by his short autobiography originally published as an encyclopedia entry in the 1970s. Aselection of relevant historical studies and personal reminiscences mainly concerning his scientific activity before his coming to Milan is reproposed, together with some personal notes from friends and colleagues.

The thirtieth anniversary of the death of Beppo Occhialini, the cosmic-ray physicist associated among other things to the fundamental discoveries of the electron-positron pairs and of the pion thanks to his contributions to the development of the controlled cloud chamber and of new nuclear emulsions, is the occasion to publish his memoirs on the main events of his scientific life, which he dictated shortly before his death. This second edition of The Scientific Legacy of Beppo Occhialini takes us by the hand to appreciate the admiration if not the veneration he had for Patrick Blackett, the ironic rudeness of Lord Rutherford, or the troubled relationship with Cecil Powell. A particularly thorny aspect concerns the role played by some physicists during the Second World War and the way Occhialini elaborated the complex personal situations experienced by each of them. Occhialini’s memoirs are enriched by his short autobiography originally published as an encyclopedia entry in the 1970s. Aselection of relevant historical studies and personal reminiscences mainly concerning his scientific activity before his coming to Milan is reproposed, together with some personal notes from friends and colleagues.

The present volume is a collection of reviews, essays and personal reminiscences on Occhialini's scientific life and work. Through these recollections the reader will also gain a vivid impression of the pioneering days of elementary particle physics when new detection methods emerged, like the triggered cloud chamber and nuclear emulsions - two techniques perfected by Occhialini - which made progress on comic ray physics possible in the first place.