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Physical Science in Bologna

  • The Physical Tourist
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Abstract

We provide a guide to Bologna, Italy, focusing particularly on sites of interest to physicists. Our first tour is in the city center; it begins in the Piazza Maggiore at the Palazzo d’Accursio, the Basilica di San Petronio, and the Archiginnasio (Old University) and then proceeds to the Two Towers and the Palazzo Poggi, which houses the Astronomical Observatory Museum and other important instrument and art collections; it concludes at the Physics Museum, Department of Physics and Astronomy. Our second tour again begins in the Piazza Maggiore but goes to sites beyond the city center where famous Bolognese physicists and other scientists were born, lived, and are buried. Finally, we point out important museums and other institutions on the outskirts of Bologna.

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Notes

  1. Website <http://www.comune.bologna.it/sale-accursio/palazzo-accursio.htm>.

  2. The actual correct figure is 10 millimeters.

  3. Website <http://www.museopalazzopoggi.unibo.it/>.

  4. Website <http://www.sma.unibo.it/>.

  5. Website <http://www.bo.astro.it/dip/Museum/MuseumHome.html>.

  6. Website <http://www.fisica-astronomia.unibo.it/>.

    .

  7. Website <http://www.fisica-astronomia.unibo.it/it/biblioteche-e-musei/museo-di-fisica>.

  8. Website <http://www.comune.bologna.it/patrimonioindustriale/>.

  9. Website <http://www.museopelagalli.com/>.

  10. Website <http://www.ducati.com/>.

  11. Website <http://www.ira.inaf.it/Medicinaweb/Nc/HOME%20PAGE%20NORTHERN%20CROSS.htm>.

  12. Website <http://centrovisite.ira.inaf.it/>.

  13. Website <http://www.g4ftc.co.uk/villa_griffone/home.htm>.

  14. Website <http://www.bolognawelcome.com/en/places-to-see/history-art/params/Luoghi_324/ref/Chiusa%20di%20Casalecchio%20di%20Reno>, http://www.bolognaplanet.it/wiki/bolognacittadelleacque/03_1-chiusadicasalecchio.asp.

  15. Website <http://www.genusbononiae.it/>.

  16. The major art museums are the Pinacoteca Nazionale di Bologna, the Museo Civico Archeologico, the Museo Civico Medievale, the Raccolte d'Arte Civiche, the Museo di Palazzo d'Accursio, and the Museo d'Arte Moderna di Bologna.

References

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  17. Adriano Ducati, Le onde corte nelle comunicazioni radioelettriche (Bologna: Nicola Zanichelli, 1927).

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Acknowledgments

We thank Roger H. Stuewer for his careful and knowledgeable editorial work on our paper. We also thank Silvio Bergia and Attilio Forino of the University of Bologna for their kind advice.

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Correspondence to Giorgio Dragoni.

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Giorgio Dragoni is Professor of History of Physics at the University of Bologna. Ivana Stojanovic has a Masters degree in Molecular Biotechnology.

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