Molecules of an author in search of memory

Loosely based on Primo Levi’s The Periodic Table, the play has a Fahrenheit 451 setting. In a world without books or memory appears a common man, the Man in the street, with some heets of writing that he cannot make out. With the help of the narrator, Science, Technology and Nature, and of two actors who remain offstage for a long while – Primo and his friend Alberto – this man is able to reconstruct the events of the chapter entitled Cerium. In this way, and thanks to this act of remembrance, lost identity – our history – is recreated. Science, Technology and Nature free this man without memory from his state of not-knowing, by giving him scientific knowledge and understanding. The play finds its catharsis in a deeply moving passage, inspired by the chapter Carbon, which creates an atemporal connection between a carbon atom from the smoke of a crematorium chimney and one residing in the body of any one of us: a poetic parable of a science firmly anchored in the life and history of man

Maria Skłodowska Curie: the obstinate self-sacrifice of a genius

«Luigi Dei takes a very personal approach to presenting the life and achievements of Maria Skłodowska-Curie, setting them in the broader context of the history of science and European culture between the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. More specifically, he traces the links of the scientist, who twice won the Nobel Prize, with Poland (her homeland) and France (the country in which she lived, worked and made her outstanding scientific discoveries)». (Preface, Jan Piskurewicz

Molecole d'autore in cerca di memoria

Freely adapted from Primo Levi's The Periodic Table, the drama takes place in a Fahrenheit 451-like scenario. In this world without books or memory, a man from the street appears with some pieces of paper, almost undecipherable: with the help of the narrative voice, of his friends - Science, Technology and Nature - and of two actors, Primo and his friend Alberto, the man manages to reconstruct the episode Cerium’s story. Thanks to the memory, the lost identity, that is our story, is reconstructed. Science, Technology and Nature allow the man without memory to take possession of scientific knowledge and to emancipate himself from his state. The drama finds its catharsis by taking a moving turn, inspired by the short story Carbon, which lyrically creates a timeless connection between a carbon atom of the smoke of a crematorium and the same atom dwelling in the body of some of us, a poetic parable of a science immersed in the life and history of man

Diario social di un Rettore 2

Don Carlos Galvèz's dream could very well be a dream of Maestro Manzi. Luigi Dei's book is dedicated to a public school that believes in children, gives value to teachers and wants to wake up every morning to rediscover the world from scratch. (Centro Alberto Manzi) A true homage to teaching and the need for quality public education. A collection of thoughts and ideas formulated as ad hoc quotes, poems and operettas. Suggestions for the re-evaluation of research in Italy: a project in which we are actively engaged. (AIRIcerca - International Association of Italian Researchers) A window on the Italian scene painted by those who live it every day. Travel notes but also concrete proposals to improve research in our country, perfectly in line with our objectives. (Tempesta di Cervelli

Diario social di un Rettore 3

«Chemistry and fantasy, art and science, photography and music, education and play, technology and communicative desire, civic passion and didactic commitment did not formerly (or not only) create a nicely original and bizarre mixture, but rather a very original score, which invites you to reflect on the operation of objects looking trivial despite not being such; this makes us gaze into the depth of common things and shows them to us in a way which leads us to feel as if we saw them for the first time. The secret lies in the pen of a light-handed writer, a scientist-poet who is a school man and enthusiastically manages to weld inventive energy and scientific expertise together. The opportunity is not to be missed, because a new contact with the world can bring forth new emotions, new thoughts, new feelings. A light hand smudged with plaster »(Gino Tellini)

Molecole d'autore in cerca di memoria

Based loosely on Primo Levi's Il Sistema Periodico, the play is set in a Fahrenheit 451 scenario. In this world without either books or memory, a man of the street arrives with a bundle of not easily decipherable papers: with the help of the narrative voice, of his friends – Science, Technology and Nature – and of two actors at length off-stage, Primo and his friend Alberto, the man succeeds in reconstructing the episode of the story Cerio. Through memory he thus reconstructs the lost identity, that is our history. Science, Technology and Nature allow the man without memory to master scientific knowledge and free himself from his state. The drama finds its catharsis in a poignant passage, inspired by the story Carbonio, which lyrically sets up a temporal link between an atom of carbon from the smoke of a crematorium and the same dwelling within the body of each one of us: a poetic parabola of a science immersed in the life and history of man

Maria Sklodowska Curie

In 1911, the Nobel Prize for Chemistry was awarded to Marie Curie, eight years after she had received the Nobel Prize for Physics. An extraordinary scientific adventure ended, and the deification of an iconic character and symbol of the amazing transformations of costume which would characterize the following decades began to take root. During the transfer of the Curies’ remains to the Pantheon, Pierre Gilles de Gennes wanted to underline Marie’s "beauty of self-denial". The Christmas Lecture pays tribute to the dual inheritance which she left us: the strength of scientific rationality against the obscurantism of beliefs and gender equality. The conference traces the most relevant aspects of Marie Curie's life, sharing her extraordinary scientific discoveries, but also underlining socio-cultural and customary aspects and highlighting the historical context of an era which was tumultuously changing

Maria Skłodowska Curie: l’obstination dans l’effort d’un génie

«Luigi Dei takes a very personal approach to presenting the life and achievements of Maria Skłodowska-Curie, setting them in the broader context of the history of science and European culture between the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. More specifically, he traces the links of the scientist, who twice won the Nobel Prize, with Poland (her homeland) and France (the country in which she lived, worked and made her outstanding scientific discoveries)» (Preface, Jan Piskurewicz)

I Felt Reborn (Primo Levi): From the Nobel Dynamite Factory to a Remembrance Place

In the extraordinary human story of Primo Levi, the daily events of the private and professional life intersected the immense tragedy he went through during the Shoah and the torment of the lager. In this article I will outline his work activity after World War II in a Nobel dynamite factory near Turin, that eventually became a remembrance place. As Primo Levi himself expressed later, this factory made him feel “reborn”

Diario social di un Rettore 4

Luigi Dei has found his own language through which he, while amusing himself and everyone else, offers us food for thought, information, knowledge and, above all, with continuity and originality, he disseminates science by apparently talking about other things, playing with our emotions, with our history, traditions and common sense. A cultural divertissement in which the author exploits the visibility and prestige of his role as Rector to give credibility and legitimacy to the project of making scientific knowledge more and more accessible and shared, also thanks to his great ability to intertwine themes and languages. Dei uses all the colours of the diversified palette of scientific disciplines constituting our knowledge in order to show us how each of them is assigned an irreplaceable role in that task of understanding reality that science has always taken on. He highlights how science combines method and rigour with creativity and imagination, but he also combines research and scientific knowledge with sensitivity and communication skills. (Laura Solito