How can we understand which world we are heading towards? “When I asked Piero Angela, he reminded me of the metaphor of the ‘Archimedes Bath’”. The mathematician and physicist from Syracuse explained that a body immersed in a liquid receives a push from the bottom upwards equal to the weight of the liquid that is moved in the act. “That is, we cannot delude ourselves into submerging bodies without causing thrusts and changes in level. It seems – Piero then commented – that we do not realize how this very simple and essential rule also applies to any other event or situation of our lives: it applies to societies, to economic systems… Even the world, in short, is a bit like an immense bathtub, where new forces make their effects felt throughout the system. And we continue cheerfully immersing the most diverse bodies, without worrying too much about the consequences”. Speaking is Angela’s student, Massimo Polidoro, who edited the posthumous book of the great popularizer who passed away in August 2022, who continues to spark discussion of his ideas even now, thanks to “The wonder of everything. Conversation with Massimo Polidoro “, published by Mondadori last February and quickly rose to the top of the best-selling book charts.
“His latest work was designed several years earlier – Polidoro reveals to Adnkronos – The image of the tank that I mentioned before is very effective, because we really seem to be a species that, like all animals, acts without worrying too much about the consequences. Except that we are not like that, we are a cultural species, which has learned and knows how to evaluate the consequences of its actions very well. But we tend not to listen to these types of predictions.”
How come? “I answer with Piero’s words: ‘Because they concern the future. Not today.’ In fact the volume is a conversation on the ‘maximum systems’: the universe, nature, man. We are talking about that science that has fascinated above all else, for decades, the journalist author of TV programs such as Quark and Superquark and on which he has written many texts on biology, psychology, evolution and astrophysics, which have trained an entire generation. So much so that for his activities he was awarded nine honorary degrees. “Think like a scientist” was always his advice to young people – Polidoro still remembers – but also his key to reading and understanding the present. Everything in life, every topic can and must be addressed with a scientific method, but at the same time we must not lose sight of curiosity, humility and wonder”. (continued)
A book that deals with the highest systems, but in a way that is understandable to everyone
Polidoro is, in turn, a journalist, writer and scientific communicator. Always interested in the study of pseudosciences and human beliefs, he participated with Angela in the foundation of Cicap, teaches at the Polytechnic of Milan and at the University of Padua and was a Visiting Associate at Harvard University.
Among the numerous themes covered in your book, there is also the difficulty of imagining tomorrow and, in particular, its conflicts. “Fifty years of cold war, of constant tension and of the idea that a sword of Damocles hung over humanity were not enough to convince us of the importance of dismantling the entire military arsenal – claims Polidoro – And this is because every individual, according to Angela, lives her time and sees only the arc of events around her. Human beings already have difficulty imagining their own death: motivating them on the extinction of other human beings, who they don’t know and who will live in the future, is very difficult. As they say, you only die once. And this ‘death selfishness’ can lead many people (and societies) to become disinterested in posterity.”
“One chapter at a time, via e-mail, this is how we discovered and read our father’s latest book. And every time it was a gift, an indescribable emotion” say Angela’s children, Christine and Alberto, who signed the afterword of the volume. “We didn’t know that he was planning a new book in the last phase of his life, in parallel with all the commitments he had made. For us it was an incredible surprise. It is the result of the painstaking work of Massimo Polidoro, who ordered the thought of our father, chapter by chapter.” Facts, anecdotes, reasoning, concepts that he had recently wanted to tell. In short, “a true encyclopedia of his thoughts”. (Rossella Guadagnini)
