CfA 39th Congress of the Italian Society for the History of Physics and Astronomy
39th National Congress of the
Italian Society for the History of Physics and Astronomy
Pisa, September 9-12, 2019
We invite contributions to the 39th Congress of the Italian Society for the History of Physics and Astronomy (SISFA), which will take place in Pisa on September 9-12, 2019. The main venue will be at the Enrico Fermi Physics Department of the University of Pisa. A thematic session on the History of General Relativity will take place in Cascina, at the European Gravitational Observatory, where the Virgo experiment is located.
The
Meeting is one of a well-established series that SISFA has been
organizing on a yearly basis since its foundation. It aims at promoting
the research activities in the history of physics and astronomy in
Italy, carried out not only by academic historians but also by
independent scholars and school teachers willing to explore the role of
the history of physics and astronomy in present-day teaching of the
disciplines. At the same time, the Meeting provides an opportunity to
strengthen the collaborations and establish new links among the members
of SISFA and the members of other scholarly societies, as well as
researchers working in the same and in related fields. Historians of
physics and astronomy are then invited to participate and the invitation
is extended to all the scholars and researchers sharing the same kind
of interests.
Proposals
for oral communications should mainly address the history of physics
and astronomy, also in connection with the related areas of mathematics,
chemistry and the history of science and culture. Studies focusing on
historical instruments and documentary sources regarding the mentioned
fields are also relevant to the purposes of the Congress, as well as the
applications of the history of physics and astronomy in science
education and in museum displays.
Topical sessions:
The year 2019 is dense of anniversaries, among which the bicentenary of
Riccardo Felici (1819-1902), the centenary of 1919 measurement of the
deflection of light, the five hundred years since the death of Leonardo
da Vinci, the fiftieth anniversary since the first moon landing.
Specific topical sessions will consider these important figures and
events on the basis of recent scholarly research in the history of
physics and astronomy. Special thematic sessions will be devoted to: 1)
Riccardo Felici and the birth of electrodynamics, 2) the experimental
tests of Einstein’s theory; 3) connections between science education
and the history of physics and astronomy; 4) historical perspectives on
physics and physicists in Venezuela.
Outline of the Congress: The Congress will host keynote invited talks and oral communications. The official languages are Italian and English.
Keynote Speakers:
- Daniel Kennefick (University of Arkansas)
- Luciano Maiani (La Sapienza, Roma)
- Friedrich Steinle (Technische Universität Berlin)
Special events:
- excursions to the Pisa Museum of Scientific Instruments, where an exhibition specially set up on the occasion of the congress will be displayed
- excursions to the Monumental Cemetery, where the painting Il trionfo della morte of Buonamico Buffalmacco (1262-1340) is visible after its recent restoration
- visit to the site of the Virgo experiment and of the European Gravitational Observatory
Important dates:
- Deadline registration and abstract submission: June 16, 2019 - please fill in the forms in the Congress registration area on the Congress web page: http://www.sisfa.org/
convegni/pisa-2019
- Notification of acceptance: June 30, 2019
- Deadline payment conference fee: July 15, 2019
More detailed information are available on the Congress website http://www.sisfa.org/