WTI Magazine #74    2015 December 11
Author : Elda Buonanno Foley      Translation by:

I am looking forward to discussing this topic while continuing the conversation based on the famous line already mentioned [See Part 1 and Part 2 in the previous editions of the magazine]("A people made of artists, poets, saints, philosophers, scientists and sailors). Reason being is that, while talking and discussing about the Italian excellence, the larger community of learners and lovers of our culture seem to focus only on the most popular areas: art, fashion, good cooking and excellent eating, in addition to natural scenery and melodic musical genre. Very few are aware that our country is the cradle of innovative scientific discoveries, worldly famous scientists and inventors not to mention makers of extremely advanced technological devices.

We could start our revealing journey by mentioning Leonardo Da Vinci who, while being a famous painter [The Last Supper or The Mona Lisa], did remarkable and futuristic studies and inventions in the fields of civil and mechanical engineering, geometry and mathematics, physics and optics. He was the one who designed, even if only as a theoretical concept, a helicopter, a calculator and an armored fighting vehicle. In this digital era, we cannot but mention the real inventor of the radio, Guglielmo Marconi, known for his pioneering work on long-distance radio transmission. His studies on the radio telegraph system were so remarkable and futuristic that he got the 1909 Nobel Prize in Physics for his "contributions to the development of wireless telegraphy."

However, it is in this millennial age, that we might discover the most surprising contributions to the scientific field from Italian individuals. As an example, whenever you ask who materially created the first personal computer, the quick reply does not surprise anybody and the name Steve Jobs, as the original inventor, will pop up. Technically, this is not exactly true: the first people who really envisioned a personal computer, were a group of individuals working for Olivetti which is a famous Italian factory manufacturing mechanical typewriters. In 1964, this group of people created the so called Program 101, a prototype of desktop computer that was so successful that the American Spatial Agency (NASA) purchased the P101 and used it for Apollo's mission to the moon in 1969.

We continue by mentioning that an Italian man invented the first microchip in 1971: Federico Faggin, from Vicenza, who thought of the potential to insert an enormous computational capacity into a very small chip.

To jump to the latest inventions and to emphasize the incredible creativity of the Italian mind, David Avino, founder for the aerospace engineering company Argotec based near Turin, devised a very complicated plan to replace the usual hardtack food that astronauts had while in space, with gourmet prepared meals. The latest of Avino's achievements has been to work with the coffee company Lavazza, and create a coffee maker, called Isspresso, that allowed the astronauts in outer space and in conditions of zero gravity, to have their first espresso on May 3rd, 2015 since they left earth several months prior.

This short list that spans from a distant century to our contemporary times, could be filled by more names of incredible minds, makers, inventors, and scientists who have had the ability to launch powerful innovations that make our great country the "Bel Paese" it is.

Note
For more data on the topic, please read the amazing book written by Maria Teresa Cometto and Alessandro Piol "Tech and The City. The Making of New York Start-Up Community".