Science and Theatre: the scientists, from Marie Curie to Virgo
by Massimiliano Razzano (University of Pisa)
What is a scientist? How is the typical day of a scientists? What are the main goals of Virgo? These are some of the questions that students ask to us very frequently. That is why at EGO we decided to organize a special meeting with the local high schools of Pisa and tell them what is the life of a scientists. This event was organized this last June 4th, at the Sant’Andrea theatre in Pisa.
The round table (Credits: EGO and The Virgo Collaboration)
Why we decided to host the event in a theatre? Because we decided to tell them the story of a great scientist of the past, Marie Skłodowska Curie. The theatre company “Teatri della Resistenza” reharsed their piece “Marie Curie, a woman” for the students, that tells the life and science of Marie Curie. The key idea was to use the story of Marie Curie to show also the differences and similarities between the life of the scientists of yesterday and today.
Actress Cristing Gardumi playing Marie Curie (Credits: EGO and The Virgo Collaboration)
One important aspect of the life of many scientists yesterday and today is the collaborative work, as in the case of Virgo. Scientists spend a lot of time abroad, visiting colleagues, attending conferences or working at various institutions. Before and after the rehersal we discussed this aspect of the scientists’ life during a round table with students. We invited to this round table Michele Punturo (INFN-Perugia), the coordinator of the GraWIToN project, Elena Cuoco (EGO) as a scientific coordinator of GraWIToN, the two GraWIToN Ph.D. students Jose Maria Gonzales Castro (University of Pisa) and Matthieu Gosselin (EGO), and Massimiliano Razzano (University of Pisa) as scientists and moderator of the discussion.
