Edoardo Amaldi was born in Carpaneto Piacentino on the 5th September 1908, from Ugo Amaldi, a mathematician and Laura Basini. He studied in Rome, where he graduated in physic with Enrico Fermi in 1931. The year after he got married with Ginestra Giovene.
Via Panisperna boys
All his scientific career took place in Rome. In 1934 he took part to the “Via Panisperna boys”, the group which worked with Fermi on some new nuclear physic researches.
Thank to the successful discover of the “slow neutrons”, Rome city became the world capital city for the nuclear physic.
The group activity ended in 1938. The majority of them moved abroad. Fermi decided to move to USA because of the racist laws and the difficulties to find the funds.
The only one who decided to stay in Italy was Edoardo Amaldi, his aim was to keep Fermi’s results and prestige safe.
Professor at the Sapienza University
After the war, Amaldi became professor of physic departement at the University La Sapienza of Rome, he stayed there for almost fourty years.
As a professor he taught to many genertions of physicists; really important were his researches on the nuclear physic, particle physic and gravitational waves.
The renaissance of the Italian and European physic
Amaldi took care of the renaissance of the Italian and European physic. He obtained great results.
He took part to the founding of the CERN, the European center for the Nuclear Research, based in Geneva, of which he became the first general secretary between the 1952 and the 1954.
In 1951 he founded with Gilberto Bernardini the National Institute for the Nuclear Physic. From 1960 to the 1965 he became president of the institution.
He was the main promoter of the creation of the electrosynchotron, the first Italian particle accelerator. It was built by Giorgio Salvini with the support of Bruno Touschek in 1958.
He was one of the initiators of the European Spatial Agency(ESA) and in 1957 he took part of the “Pugwash movement” with the aim of the nuclear disarmament. He founded even in Italy the Scientists Union for the Disarmament (USPID).
When he was the president of the Accademia dei Lincei, he promoted the creation of the Commission of Civil Rights and the Arms control (SICA).
Through the studies on the cosmic radiation during the fifties, Edoardo Amaldi got really close to the antiproton discover (according to some people this discovery was maily made by him).
During the last part of his scientific life he worked on the research on the gravitational waves.
Amaldi represents one of the most important figures who understood the importance of the international partnership; the scientist launched the Italian country and Europe in the particle physic field.
In the morning of the 5th December 1989 he died of a stroke.
