The Milan Institute of Physics

Physics in Milan before the foundation of the University of Milan.- The Institute of Complementary Physics: Aldo Pontremoli and the 1928 polar expedition.- The Institute of Physics in 1930-45: Giovanni Polvani, the impact of Fascism and the war on the physics community.- Giovanni Gentile jr and the intermediate statistics.- The post-war reconstruction of the Institute of Physics.- Cosmic-ray physics: from Giuseppe Cocconi's cloud chambers to Beppo Occhialini's nuclear emulsions.- Nuclear physics: the collaboration with the C.I.S.E. (Centro Informazioni Studi Esperienze) and the I.N.F.N. (National Institute of Nuclear Physics).- Theoretical physics: the contributions by Piero Caldirola and his school.

Leonardo Gariboldi is a research fellow in the History of Physics and Physics Education at the University of Milan. His research interests concern the history of nineteenth and twentieth-century physics, particularly with regard to Aldo Pontremoli, Beppo Occhialini, and the CISE nuclear research center. He teaches historical-scientific courses and cultural heritage degree courses and serves as the vice director of Brera Astronomical Museum.


Antonella Testa received her Master's degree in Physics and a Ph.D. in the History of International Relations with Multimedia Methodologies, from the Università degli Studi di Milano. Since 1994, she has been working at the Università degli Studi di Milano; her activities focus on the history of physics and astronomy-with special attention to the history of eighteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth-century scientific instruments, and their related institutions-and space science. She is also involved in scientific museology for the preservation of historical heritage in the academic context and has carried out several projects on formal and informal methodologies of scientific education and dissemination. For the past five years, she has been an adjunct professor of "Conservation and Valorization of Scientific Instruments" for the "Cultural Heritage Conservation Science" Master's degree program (Università degli Studi di Milano).