Month: October 2021

Fracture mechanics is basically about scaling. Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519) was the first to record some understanding of scaling in fracture, by designing strength tests on iron wires of different length. While we don’t know whether Leonardo actually ever realized such tests, which would have required a high

The “Guglielmo Marconi” building of the Institute of Physics (“Istituto Fisico”) in the University of Rome “Sapienza” (meaning Knowledge in Italian) may be quite intimidating, both for a young aspiring physicist and for a newcomer professor. The amount of outstanding

Unlike animals, which generally have to contend with a body plan which is fixed at birth, plants can continue to develop new organs and elaborate their body plan throughout their life. A beautiful example of a nearly regular and periodic