When in Rome, talk about science learning

During his lifetime, Nobel-Prize-winning scientist Enrico Fermi had the ambition to “create in his native Italy a facility dedicated to pushing the frontiers of scientific knowledge.” As a result, the Fermi Center, or the Enrico Fermi Historical Museum of Physics and Study and Research Center, is expected to open on the site previously used by the Institute of Physics of the University of Rome, where Fermi performed some of his fundamental research.

In preparation for the opening prior to 2018, in May the Center held an international workshop called “Science Communication and Science Museums: Prospects and New Ideas.” Our own director, Linda Deck, was asked to participate. She presented the talk, “Changing our world: Millennials helping others understand historic science at science museums.”

“The workshop included colleagues representing European science museums and science centers, university museums, and international organizations promoting science literacy. I shared ideas I think new to many, and I also learned new techniques and approaches. The Centro Fermi leadership feels a real kinship to Los Alamos National Laboratory and the Bradbury, and I look forward to continuing to work with them as they begin to design their permanent museum,” said Deck.

Centro Fermi has already created a traveling exhibit about Fermi, to which the Bradbury contributed information about Fermiac, Fermi’s unique analog calculating device. The Bradbury displays the original Fermiac; Centro Fermi created a replica from photos and drawings supplied by the Bradbury.

The Lab has a connection to Fermi: he was part of the team at Los Alamos on the Manhattan Project. He was approached to help because of his atom-shattering work helping design the first self-sustaining nuclear reactor. His background was critical to the work taking place at Los Alamos.

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science, through the presidential Enrico Fermi Award, commemorates his scientific contributions.