XLVI National Congress of the Italian Society for the History of Physics and Astronomy

Italian Competitions for Physics Chairs from 1902 to 1942

17 Sept 2026, 09:55

25m

The History of Physics and Astronomy History of Physics in 20th Century

Speaker

Rossi, Paolo (Dipartimento di Fisica Università di Pisa)

Description

The evolution of Italian physics in the first half of the 20th century is observed through a detailed quantitative and qualitative analysis of university competitions for chairs in experimental, theoretical, terrestrial, and technical physics, based on the texts of the judging committees' reports. One can clearly see the scientific and sociological dynamics of the slow transition from the stale nineteenth-century tradition to the more modern and advanced vision that characterized Italian physics in the second half of the 20th century.