“A good physicist is able to communicate”

by Sabine Hemmer

These the words of Fernando Ferroni, president at the National Institute of Nuclear Physics (INFN) in Italy, on occasion of his talk at the 7^th International School of Science Journalism in Erice this week. Together with other 40 fellows I had the great pleasure to attend this school around the theme “Fundamental Science: From cutting edge technologies to the heart of society”.

In the shadow of Galileo Galilei

by Sabine Hemmer

“The best years of all my life”. This is how Galileo Galilei felt about the time he spent in Padova between 1592 and 1610. In his years as a professor of mathematics at the University of Padua he not only worked on the development of the scientific method, but also wrote two of his famous works, “Sidereus Nuncius” and “Dialogo sopra i due massimi sistemi del mondo” (Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems, published later in Florence).