Massimo Angelini

Massimo Angelini () (May 3, 1953 - May 5, 2007) was a world-wide known Italian physicist.

He attended the High School Andrea D’Oria, that specializes in arts subjects, when he was ten years old - very soon - but his great interest for science was already obvious. Many years later he would have justified this choice writing these words: “ I wasn’t able to draw, so I chose the only kind of school that didn’t have drafting as a compulsory subject.”

Youth and schooling
In 1968, after the leaving school exam, he started studying physics at the University of Genoa and he graduated only three years later with the thesis “How liquid-nitrogen can be used to show the passage of solar neutrinos”, in which he exposed his experimental results in the field of neutrinos detection.
His method, also used nowadays, opened the way to new horizons in particle physics. He discovered that to observe solar neutrinos it is sufficient to build a sealed transparent tin. After filling it with liquid-nitrogen (that can be easily found and bought in any ice-cream parlour), putting the tin in a dark place will allow observers to see sparkles caused by the shock between neutrinos and nitrogen.

Research
First Angelini's theorem
After that, he spent many years researching in the field of mathematics, coming to remarkable results, even though not always appreciated by other mathematicians. Very famous is the so-called “First Angelini’s Theorem” that adfirms: “Divide a circle in four parts and mark the point M in the middle of a radius; draw the perpendicular line linking this point to the circle. Marking this new point and drawing the parallel line to the initial radius passing from this point we find a new point P, that we have to connect to M. The line MP so drawn is as long as the radius”. This theorem, that can be demonstrated with notions of advanced mathematics (like Minkowsky’s and Chebycheff’s inequalities), changed modern maths profoundly. After this brilliant work, he was asked by the INFN (the Italian National Institute for Nuclear Physics) to apply himself to unsolved problems, like Grid computing. His help led to the achievements of Ian Foster, Carl Kesselman and Steve Tuecke.

Solar neutrinos detection
In 1989 he attempted again to realize a more complex machine to detect solar neutrinos and, thanks to the work of Massimo Lovati, a famous photographer of Genoa, realized a photographic reportage of the experiment. In their laboratory, placed in “Corso Europa”, they build a machinery that, some time later, the same Angelini declared as a failure. In fact results were inhibited by the bus 17th that passes by the street were the laboratory is placed.

School employment
In 2003 he became the headmaster of "Liceo Scientifico Gian Domenico Cassini", placed in Genoa.
His publications, about his work as headmaster, reached a great success; “A failure as Physicist but incomparable as headmaster” (an autobiography) and the remake of Machiavelli’s “The Prince” entitled “The Headmaster” are the most noteworthy.

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