Mario Ageno (March 2, 1915 – December 23, 1992) is considered one of

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

's most important

biophysicists Biophysics is an interdisciplinary science that applies approaches and methods traditionally used in physics to study biological phenomena. Biophysics covers all scales of biological organization, from molecular to organismic and populations. ...

Early life and education

Born in Livorno from a Genoese family, he studied

Physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...

for two years in

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian census, the Province of ...

, when one of his professors noticed his talent as a

scientist A scientist is a person who conducts scientific research to advance knowledge in an area of the natural sciences. In classical antiquity, there was no real ancient analog of a modern scientist. Instead, philosophers engaged in the philosoph ...

, and suggested that he should move to

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

. He did, and from 1934 started collaborating with the "

Via Panisperna boys Via Panisperna boys (Italian: ''I ragazzi di Via Panisperna'') is the name given to a group of young Italian scientists led by Enrico Fermi, who worked at the Royal Physics Institute of the University of Rome La Sapienza. In 1934 they made the ...

" on

nuclear physics Nuclear physics is the field of physics that studies atomic nuclei and their constituents and interactions, in addition to the study of other forms of nuclear matter. Nuclear physics should not be confused with atomic physics, which studies the ...

and

cosmic rays Cosmic rays are high-energy particles or clusters of particles (primarily represented by protons or atomic nuclei) that move through space at nearly the speed of light. They originate from the Sun, from outside of the Solar System in our ow ...

; the former became the subject of his graduation

thesis A thesis ( : theses), or dissertation (abbreviated diss.), is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings.International Standard ISO 7144: ...

under the supervision of Enrico Fermi, in 1936. He was one of the last Italian students to study under Fermi before Fermi emigrated to the United States. In 1938 he was recruited to work with Edoardo Amaldi on the first Italian particle accelerator.

Career

Aged 21, Ageno was selected to work with the "Via Panisperna boys" during their final years; when

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

broke out, he was drafted and fought in

Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Suda ...

. In 1949, he moved to the Physics department at the

Istituto Superiore di Sanità The ''Istituto Superiore di Sanità'' (Italian National Institute of Health, literally 'Higher Health Institute'), also ISS, is an Italian public institution that, as the leading technical-scientific body of the Italian National Health Service (' ...

, under the direction of Giulio Trabacchi, whom he succeeded in the position of head of department in 1959. With the collaboration of Franco Graziosi, he devoted the activities of the department to biophysics. Thanks to his collaboration with Adriano Buzzati-Traverso, Ageno taught at the

University of Pavia The University of Pavia ( it, Università degli Studi di Pavia, UNIPV or ''Università di Pavia''; la, Alma Ticinensis Universitas) is a university located in Pavia, Lombardy, Italy. There was evidence of teaching as early as 1361, making it one ...

in 1960-1961, and became a member of the first scientific council of Traverso's Laboratorio Internazionale di Genetica e Biofisica. He left the

for the

University of Rome La Sapienza The Sapienza University of Rome ( it, Sapienza – Università di Roma), also called simply Sapienza or the University of Rome, and formally the Università degli Studi di Roma "La Sapienza", is a public research university located in Rome, Ita ...

in 1969, to accept the first

professorship Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professors ...

in Biophysics in Italian history. Becoming famed for his strictness with students, he continued his research in the

university A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...

setting, focusing on

mathematical Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...

and physical models for

bacterial growth 250px, Growth is shown as ''L'' = log(numbers) where numbers is the number of colony forming units per ml, versus ''T'' (time.) Bacterial growth is proliferation of bacterium into two daughter cells, in a process called binary fission. Providing ...

, developing a complex view on the relationships between

physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...

and

biology Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary i ...

, which are summed up in his book ''Che cos'è la vita? In occasione del cinquantenario di

What Is Life? ''What Is Life? The Physical Aspect of the Living Cell'' is a 1944 science book written for the lay reader by physicist Erwin Schrödinger. The book was based on a course of public lectures delivered by Schrödinger in February 1943, under the ...

Erwin Schrödinger Erwin Rudolf Josef Alexander Schrödinger (, ; ; 12 August 1887 – 4 January 1961), sometimes written as or , was a Nobel Prize-winning Austrian physicist with Irish citizenship who developed a number of fundamental results in quantum theo ...

'' (

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

for "What Is life? In the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of What Is Life? by Erwin Schrödinger). During his career, he authored about three hundred published scientific works and a handful of divulgative books, became a member of the Accademia dei Lincei, and was awarded an

honorary degree An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hon ...

in Biology.

Retirement and death

Mario Ageno retired in 1985, and died suddenly on December 23, 1992. His papers (54 boxes) are held by the Physics Department of the Università di Roma "La Sapienza". There is a street named after him in Rome.

Publications

* * * * * *M. Ageno
Methods and problems in biophysics.
''Riv. Nuovo Cim.'' 14, 1–71 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02810146

External links

(in

)
Mario Ageno
by Mauro Murzi (in

)
Chapter 1 - Mario Ageno
fro
Masters and students in italian physics
by Luisa Bonolis (in

)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ageno, Mario 1915 births 1992 deaths Italian biophysicists 20th-century Italian physicists Burials at the Cimitero Flaminio