Bologna

Not available in Bologna. This photo was taken in U.S.A.

• First of all, Bologna is a city of restaurants. Indeed, the entire city is a big restaurant, while the entire city of Florence is a big museum.
  1. The Ristorante-Pizzeria Victoria has a ceiling consisting of decorations from the ancient Roman period, such as this, and this. The restaurant manager said they are two thousand years old, and I had to believe him.
  2. The Roman structures can be also seen at other place of the city.

  3. The Bologna's sidewalks provide comfortable dining areas.
  4. There are many eating/drinking places on the campus of the University of Bologna.

  5. When the university moved to the present campus 100 years ago, a large portion of the old campus became converted into a restaurant complex.
     • One of the large dining areas.
     • Kitchen.
     • Wine cellar.
     • Musicians providing entertainment.

  6. Let us eat and drink, on a narrow street. Here is another narrow street.
  7. Italian believe in Ice Cream. Gelateria is everywhere in Italy.
  8. The McDonald's is also a popular place among Italians.

• All sidewalks in Bologna are covered. There once was the law requiring all buildings along the streets provide the cover for those who walk.
  1. Those covered sidewalks provide covered dining places.
  2. Shoppers need covered sidewalks.
  3. All new bundlings also provide covered sidewalks.
  4. Some of them are arched to be consistent with the old sidewalks.

• This Roman-style structure is at the center of the city. There is an interesting culture behind this building. The Piazza Majiore is behind this structure.
  1. The city hall is one of the buildings surrounding the Piazza.
  2. Children trying to catch the bubbles in front of the city hall.
  3. San Petronio Basilica is the No. 1 cathedral for the city.
     • Inside the Basilica.
     • Statue of Garibaldi behind the Basilica.
     • Click here for the history of this church.
  4. The old campus of the Univ. of Bologna is here. These days, the buildings are used for retail stores, restaurants, as well as some academic departments of the University.

  Via Gugliemo Marconi on Sunday morning.

• As far as physics is concerned, the most prominent man from Bologna is Gugliemo Marconi, and you all know how he changed this world. One of the major boulevards connecting the main train station with downtown is named after him. This photo was taken on Sunday morning, and there are not many cars.
  1. Here is the street sign carrying his name.

  2. I have a separate webpage dedicated to him along with other pioneers in wireless communication.
  3. My early passion (wireless communication ) for communicating with far-away people led me to develop an art of making webpages.

  4. Webpages, like powepoints, allow me to integrate my earlier papers into one big paper. Unlike the powerpoints, I do not have to make costly trips to conferences. By making webpages, I can give plenary talks from my office to far-away people, who can open my webpages in their offices, houses, or while travelling.

  Copernicus stayed here while in Bologna!

  Where is this place? Go to a short street called Via Galleriera and look around.

• Nicolous Copernicus is another prominent physicist associated with Bologna. He was a polish priest when he came to Bologna in 1497. While there, he became interested in the exact orbit calculations carried out by Islamic astronomers, strictly based on the geocentric world. He then found out there was something seriously wrong in those calculations. Copernicus returned to Poland in 1500 and formulated his heliocentric theory.
  1. Click here for a detailed story his Islamic connection. Some people say that I am talking about Copernicus in order to talk about myself. Fortunately, they are right. They do not seem to like me, but I like them.

  2. In spite of his intense interest in Islamic astronomy and his formulation of a theory hostile to the Church, Copernicus stayed within the existing system, and acted according to the laws dictated by the Church in order to avoid inquisition.

     Since 1966, my papers were not consistent with the funding policies of the U.S. National Science Foundation, and NSF terminated its support for my research in 1974.

     This was an inquisition in its 20th-century style. Yet, this NSF inquisition was not powerful enough to throw me out from the American science community, and I stayed within the U.S. system. I am now one of the longest surviving researchers among my generation of American physicists. The United States has been very nice to me.

  3. I know there are many of you not completely happy with your environment while having a strong conviction of what you are doing. Believe in Copernicus, and you will get the strength.

  4. Galileo Galilei was more vocal, but he was able to do so because he had a strong political backing from Florence's Medici clan.

     I like Copernicus better. He knew how to protect himself. I also like his country.

  These two towers stand between the old and new campuses of the University.

• Bolognians are very proud of their university being the first in Europe. The University of Bologna was set up in 1088 AD. How did this happen? Before addressing this issue, let us see some photos.
  1. Presumably, the University started at an obscure corner of a monastery in 1088, and the first campus was built 500 years ago near the Basilica of San Petrino in downtown. The campus then moved 100 years ago to the northeastern area of the city. I went to his 100-year-old new campus and spent one afternoon while talking with students.

  2. These twin towers stand between the old and new campuses, but the towers do not belong to the university.
  3. These two young ladies are sitting at the bottom of one of the towers. They are still in high school, and want to study at the University. They became very happy when I told them I am a professor from an American university. When I asked whether they are interested in studying in U.S.S., their answer was "too expensive."
  4. The book store is one of the shops around the towers.

  5. This student was getting her PhD degree and wearing her wreath. She was with her parents. I congratulated her and her parents.
  6. These students are from Albania. They speak Italian fluently. Albania is geographically close to Italy. This photo was taken by this Italian student, who sat down with us to talk about everything under the sun and moon.

  7. Italian students use English to express their frustrations.
  8. This American Cafe is a popular place among students.

  These two students are from Moldavia. They are studying at the Law School of the University. We talked at the Law School quadrangle.

• These two students are from Moldavia and they are ethnic Romanians. They said it easy for them to speak Italian because their country was created originally by Romans. I talked with them, and I learned about how the University was created in Bologna.
  1. They are studying the Italian and international laws in the Law School, and they are familiar with the history the Law School was established.

  2. In order to rule the world, the Catholic Church wrote the books about what you should do and what you should not do. They were cook books.

  3. Under the Islamic influence strong in Bologna (not far from Venice), young priests started organizing them in a logical order.

     Why Islamic influence? During the Medieval ages, Islams were the only ones who followed the Greek tradition of philosophy, science, and logic.

  4. In 1088, the University of Bologna started with its Law School, and its purpose was to organize those Catholic rules into a logical order. We call this set of the church rules "Canon Law."

     The word "canon" is used also in physics. We often perform canonical transformations. There is also a camera brand name called "Canon," but its origin is quite different. Japanese originally had an optical company called "Kwanwoon." They changed Kwanwoon to Canon for marketing purposes.

  It was a great honor for me to have a photo with Confucius in China.

  Zhu Xi (1130-1200 AD). His plaque is in the main lobby of Moscow State University, along with those of other great scholars including Socrates, Aristotle, and Marx.

• In ancient China, there was a scholar named Confucius. He wrote a cook book spelling out what you should to and what you should not do. The east Asian culture is still based on "according to Confucius."
  1. China's Han Dynasty (from 200 BC to 200 AD) was able to last for 400 years because the Confucian rules were the rules of the country. They did not have a constitution.

  2. Chinese enjoyed its most most prosperous and creative period during its Tang Dynasty (from from 600 AD to 900 AD). This dynasty's rules were also based on Confucianism. However, by this time, Chinese became smart enough not to obey blindly. Thus, the rulers started adding logic to these rules.

     Later, a Chinese scholar named Zhu Xi (1130-200) of Song Dynasty (modeled after Tang Dynasty in southern China) organized into a logical order the Confucianism practiced during the Tang Dynasty. He used the logic from Taoism formulated by another ancient scholar Lao Tsu who lived in the 5th or 4th Century BC.

  3. The Confucianism combined with Taoism is called "neo-Confucianism" in the Western world. These days, American capitalist learn this Confucian ideology in order to do business in China.

     Korea's last dynasty (1400-1900) used this neo-Confucianism, and lasted more than 500 years. Japan's Tokugawa Dynasty (1600-1850 AD) also used this neo-Confucianism. It is called "Shushi Kaku" in Japan.

• Physical laws usually start with cook books, and they become a theory if integrated into a logical order. You are interested in how Einstein and Bohr organized their theories. Click here for a story.
  
  
  

How did I talk to Einstein?

• Click here for his home page.
• His photo-biography.
• His Einstein page.
• His Princeton page.
• His Style page.

  
  I received my PhD degree from Princeton in 1961, seven years after high school graduation in 1954. This means that I did much of the ground work for the degree during my high school years.