Franco Dino Rasetti (August 10,1901 – December 5, 2001) was an
ItalianItaly , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares its northern, Alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia...
scientist. Together with
Enrico FermiEnrico Fermi was an Italian physicist most noted for his work on the development of the first nuclear reactor, and for his contributions to the development of quantum theory, nuclear and particle physics, and statistical mechanics...
, discovered key processes leading to
nuclear fissionIn nuclear physics and nuclear chemistry, nuclear fission is a nuclear reaction in which the nucleus of an atom splits into smaller parts, often producing free neutrons and lighter nuclei, which may eventually produce photons...
. Rasetti refused to work on the
Manhattan ProjectThe Manhattan Project was the codename for a project conducted during World War II to develop the first atomic bomb. The project was led by the United States, and included scientists from Denmark, The United Kingdom and Canada...
, however, on moral grounds. The
Nature obituary noted that Rasetti was one of the
most prolific generalists whose
work and writing are noted for the elegance, simplicity and beauty.
Rasetti was born in
Castiglione del LagoCastiglione del Lago is a town in the Province of Perugia of Umbria , on the southwest corner of Lake Trasimeno. Orvieto is 59 km south, Chiusi is 21 km to the west, Arezzo is 56 km to the north, Cortona is 21 km to the north and Perugia is 47 km to the north east.-Geography and urban...
,
ItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares its northern, Alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia...
.
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Franco Dino Rasetti (August 10,1901 – December 5, 2001) was an
ItalianItaly , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares its northern, Alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia...
scientist. Together with
Enrico FermiEnrico Fermi was an Italian physicist most noted for his work on the development of the first nuclear reactor, and for his contributions to the development of quantum theory, nuclear and particle physics, and statistical mechanics...
, discovered key processes leading to
nuclear fissionIn nuclear physics and nuclear chemistry, nuclear fission is a nuclear reaction in which the nucleus of an atom splits into smaller parts, often producing free neutrons and lighter nuclei, which may eventually produce photons...
. Rasetti refused to work on the
Manhattan ProjectThe Manhattan Project was the codename for a project conducted during World War II to develop the first atomic bomb. The project was led by the United States, and included scientists from Denmark, The United Kingdom and Canada...
, however, on moral grounds. The
Nature obituary noted that Rasetti was one of the
most prolific generalists whose
work and writing are noted for the elegance, simplicity and beauty.
Rasetti was born in
Castiglione del LagoCastiglione del Lago is a town in the Province of Perugia of Umbria , on the southwest corner of Lake Trasimeno. Orvieto is 59 km south, Chiusi is 21 km to the west, Arezzo is 56 km to the north, Cortona is 21 km to the north and Perugia is 47 km to the north east.-Geography and urban...
,
ItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares its northern, Alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia...
. In 1947, he went to the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and, in 1952 he became a naturalized citizen.
Rasetti was also an expert on
trilobiteTrilobites are a well-known fossil group of extinct marine arthropods that form the class Trilobita. Trilobites first appear in the fossil record during the Early Cambrian period and flourished throughout the lower Paleozoic era before beginning a drawn-out decline to extinction when, during the...
fossilFossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals, plants, and other organisms from the remote past. The totality of fossils, both discovered and undiscovered, and their placement in fossiliferous rock formations and sedimentary layers is known as the fossil record...
s and on wildflowers in the
AlpsThe Alps are one of the great mountain range systems of Europe, stretching from Austria and Slovenia in the east; through Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Germany; to France in the west....
. He died in
WaremmeWaremme is a Walloon municipality located in the province of Liège, in Belgium. The city is located on the River Geer , in the loessic Hesbaye region of which it is the capital...
,
BelgiumThe Kingdom of Belgium is a country in northwest Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts its headquarters, as well as those of other major international organizations, including NATO...
at the age of 100..
Awards
- 1952, awarded the Charles Doolittle Walcott Medal
Charles Doolittle Walcott Medal is an award presented by the National Academy of Sciences every five years to promote research and study in the fields of Precambrian and Cambrian life and history. The medal was established and endowed in 1934 by the Walcott Fund, a gift of Mary Vaux Walcott, in...
by the National Academy of SciencesThe National Academy of Sciences is a corporation in the United States whose members serve pro bono as "advisers to the nation on science, engineering, and medicine."The group holds a congressional charter under Title 36 of the United States Code....
External links