Historical research on the DFA founder Bruno Benedetto Rossi

by Dr Luca Campagnoni (DFA)

Thursday 15 Jan 2026, 17:00 → 17:15 Europe/Rome

1/1-3 - Aula B (Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia - Edificio Marzolo)

Thanks to the discovery of a new archival source in the Venetian house where the physicist Bruno Benedetto Rossi (1905–1993) was born and raised, my colleagues and I are shedding more light on his life and career. Rossi was a key figure in the development of cosmic-ray physics as an independent strand of research, and also the founder of our Physics and Astronomy Department, which he designed during the 1930s. The new material includes letters, documents, pictures, handwritten notes, newspaper clippings, and small personal items. Thanks to them, we have recently completed the analysis of Rossi’s 1933 scientific expedition to the then-Italian colony of Eritrea. This talk aims to highlight such results, as well as briefly present ongoing research pieces, with a focus on the history of our department and its connection to the “Giovanni Poleni” Museum.