“Science is very ancient. The first scientists were those who discovered fire or tamed animals. Over the centuries and millennia, science has taken on a whole new meaning. Today, therefore, it is something very different from what it was in the beginning. In this seminar I will talk about how science has evolved, what is its meaning now and what are the duties of scientists”.
It is with these words that Giorgio Parisi, 2021 Nobel laureate in Physics, introduces "The Value of Science", the seminar organized as part of a joint colloquia series by the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) and the Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati (SISSA) in Trieste.
This is the first public talk by Professor Parisi since the announcement of the award by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences on 5 October. The event will take place on 22 October in the main hall of SISSA in Via Beirut, next to the campus of ICTP, in Grignano, Trieste, starting at 11.00 am.
The event will be in streaming on the ICTP’s YouTube Channel.
On this special occasion, Giorgio Parisi will talk about the progress of science from its origins, the principles and values that guide it and its role in the contemporary world, bringing his unique perspective as a researcher and intellectual capable of moving in very different fields of knowledge. Former president of the Accademia dei Lincei and member of the American National Academy of Sciences, his scientific research has mainly concerned statistical physics, mathematical physics and condensed matter physics. However, his studies have a relevance that goes beyond these boundaries to go into other areas of knowledge, from anthropology to cognitive sciences, from finance to social sciences.
Giorgio Parisi will also be a guest of ICTP on the afternoon of Friday 22 October, starting at 2 pm, at the Centre's ceremony for its 2020 Dirac Medal, one of the most prestigious awards in theoretical physics.
The 2020 prize was awarded to André Neveu of the University of Montpellier, Pierre Ramond of the University of Florida and Miguel Virasoro of the Universidad Nacional de General Sarmiento. The three physicists were awarded "for their pioneering contributions to the inception and formulation of string theory which introduced new Bosonic and Fermionic symmetries into physics".
Professor Parisi, the Dirac Medallist recipient in 1999, will deliver a memorial speech for his long-time friend and colleague Miguel Virasoro, former Director of ICTP, who passed away earlier this year. (Image via Wikipedia)