WTI Magazine #36    2014 June, 25
Author : Giuseppina Salzano e Giovanni Verde      Translation by:

Enrico Fermi is universally considered one of the greatest scientists of all time. His contributions in the field of nuclear physics mark a turning point in science and literally change the history, affecting policy decisions of a global nature.

The great Italian American scientist was born in Rome on September 29, 1901.

Youngest of three children, already in his childhood he proves ton have an extraordinary memory and analysis ability. To access the prestigious University "La Normale" in Pisa, Tuscany, Enrico Fermi writes a paper about "The distinctive characteristics of sound and their causes" with an exceptional mastery of mathematical means, citing differential equations and concepts at the highest level. Between 1919 and 1923 he will study the general relativity, quantum mechanics and atomic physics.

After obtaining his professorship in 1925, Fermi goes to Florence as professor of rational mechanics and mathematical physics. He conducts here further research in the new quantum physics field, becoming famous worldwide with what is now referred to as "Fermi-Durac statistical ", which explains the laws under which obey all atomic particles: electrons, protons, neutrons and other generic particles called, in honor of the scientist, "fermioni" (fermions).

In 1926 the director of the Institute of Physics of the University of Rome, Orso Mario Corbino, gives Fermi a professorship in theoretical physics, the first in Italy. At the Institute, with a first level team of collaborators, Fermi will work at new theoretical and experimental frontiers of the study of the atomic nucleus.

In 1933 Fermi processes the so-called "beta Theory", which explains the transformations of neutrons within the atomic nuclei, and for the first time he states the existence of a new force, marked by a universal constant: the weak interaction or "Fermi's interaction". From that moment on, the fame of the scientist becomes global, consolidated thanks to his team's findings regarding the properties of the neutron and its ability to penetrate an atomic nucleus and release energy. The team will work until 1935, when all members will travel to different locations on the planet, to pursue an academic career.

On 10 November 1938, at the age of 37, Enrico Fermi goes to Stockholm to receive the Nobel Prize for Physics "for his demonstrations of the existence of new radioactive elements produced by neutron irradiation, and for his related discovery of nuclear reactions brought about by slow neutrons". A few months later, due to the war that was about to explode in Europe and to the Italian new racial laws (Fermi's wife is a Jew), Fermi goes to the United States where, in 1944 will get the American citizenship.

Almost simultaneously two scientists, Hahn and Strassmann, had discovered the nuclear fission. Fermi immediately wonders if the neutrons produced by the fission may, in turn, produce more fissions and liberate a chain reaction. His extraordinary scientific ability will allow him to build the first nuclear reactor in history, known as "Chicago Pile-1", and get outstanding scientific achievements in a short time.

Based on this knowledge, Enrico Fermi will be chosen as one of the technical directors of "Project Manhattan", the code name of the program of research that will lead the United States to the creation of the first atomic bomb. Fermi will still be among the scientists who in 1945 will firmly express against the use of the bomb towards civilian targets. He will die at age 53 on November 29, 1954, in Chicago.

An extremely brilliant man, with exceptional scientific qualities, Enrico Fermi changed science history and also the history of the application of scientific discoveries in the field of technology, contributing as few others to human development during the twentieth century.

Extraordinary precursor of his time, a great theoretical and staunch supporter of experiment as a science tool, he loved to summarize the point of genius in every scientific progress in one sentence: "There are two possible outcomes: if the result confirms the hypothesis, then you've made a measurement. If the result is contrary to the hypothesis, then you've made a discovery".