Room Bibl.
Luisa has an MA in physics from Sapienza University of Rome and a PhD in history of science from Bari University, Italy. Her research interests lie in the history of twentieth-century physics, focusing in particular on the evolution of cosmic-ray research and neutrino astrophysics, nuclear and elementary particle physics, high-energy astrophysics, early developments of colliders in Europe, early research on thermonuclear fusion, and oral history.
From 2015–2016 Luisa was part of the project “Renaissance of General Relativity” at the MPIWG, undertaking research on the emergence of relativistic astrophysics during the 1950s and early 1960s.
Since joining the Max Planck Research Program on the History of the Max Planck Society (GMPG) in 2016, she has been working on the history of research undertaken in astrophysics, astronomy, cosmology, and space sciences at the Max Planck Society after World War 2 and, together with Juan-Andres Leon, is currently completing a book resulting from this research, which is scheduled to be published by Brill in 2022.
Her current project, “Astro-particle Physics 1970s - Early 1980s: Investigating the Patterns and Dynamics of the Emergence Process,” focuses in particular on the emergence of astroparticle physics.
Selected Publications
Bonolis, Luisa and Juan Andres León Gómez (2021). “Thinking Big: How Large-scale Detectors Set the Stage for the Emergence of Astro-particle Physics. A Short Survey.” In Atti del XL Convegno annuale: Proceedings of the 40th Annual Conference, 8-10 September 2020, Società Italiana degli Storici della Fisica e dell’Astronomia (SISFA), ed. F. Bevilacqua and I. Gambaro, 171–177. Pisa: Pisa University Press. https://doi.org/10.12871/978883339517320.
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Bonolis, Luisa and Juan Andres León Gómez (2020). “Gravitational-Wave Research as an Emerging Field in the Max Planck Society: The Long Roots of GEO600 and of the Albert Einstein Institute.” In The Renaissance of General Relativity in Context, ed. A. S. Blum, R. Lalli, and J. Renn, 285–361. Basel: Birkhäuser. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-50754-1_9.
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Bonolis, Luisa (2020). “How Relativistic Astrophysics Bubbled up from Post-WWII Science: A Preliminary Survey.” In Atti del XXXIX Convegno annuale: Proceedings of the 39th Annual Conference, Pisa, 9–12 Settembre 2019, Società Italiana degli Storici della Fisica e dell’Astronomia (SISFA), ed. A. La Rana and P. Rossi, 159–170. Pisa: Pisa University Press. https://doi.org/10.12871/978883339402225.
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Maiani, Luciano and Luisa Bonolis (2017). “The Charm of Theoretical Physics (1958–1993).” The European Physical Journal H 42 (4–5): 611–661. https://doi.org/10.1140/epjh/e2017-80040-9.
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Bonolis, Luisa (2017). “Stellar Structure and Compact Objects before 1940: Towards Relativistic Astrophysics.” The European Physical Journal. H 42 (2): 311–393. https://doi.org/10.1140/epjh/e2017-80014-4.
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La Rana, Adele and Luisa Bonolis (2017). “The Beginning of Edoardo Amaldi’s Interest in Gravitation Experiments and in Gravitational Wave Detection.” In The Fourteenth Marcel Grossmann Meeting: On Recent Developments in Theoretical and Experimental General Relativity, Astrophysics, and Relativistic Field Theories. Part D, ed. M. Bianchi and R. T. Jantzen, 3378–3383. Singapore: World Scientific. https://doi.org/10.1142/9789813226609_0434 .
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Bonolis, Luisa, Adele La Rana, and Roberto Lalli (2017). “The Renaissance of General Relativity in Rome: Main Actors, Research Programs and Institutional Structures.” In The Fourteenth Marcel Grossmann Meeting: On Recent Developments in Theoretical and Experimental General Relativity, Astrophysics, and Relativistic Field Theories. Part D, ed. M. Bianchi and R. T. Jantzen, 3372–3377. Singapore: World Scientific. https://doi.org/10.1142/9789813226609_0433.
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Bonolis, Luisa (2014). “From cosmic ray physics to cosmic ray astronomy : Bruno Rossi and the opening of new windows on the universe.” Astroparticle Physics 53: 67–85. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.astropartphys.2013.05.008.
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Projects
Presentations, Talks, & Teaching Activities
Physics Department of Sapienza University of Rome, Frascati National Laboratories and Accademia dei Lincei
Physics Department, Sapienza University of Rome
107th National Conference of the Italian Physical Society (SIF)
Round Table: Probing the Cosmos in the Time of Multiplicity. A Historical Scientific Dialogue, with Barry Barish (University of California, Riverside), Reinhard Genzel (Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics, Garching), Malcolm Longair (Cambridge University), Christian Spiering (DESY), Alan Watson (University of Leeds).
XL National Conference of the Italian Society of Historians of Physics and Astronomy (SISFA)
Annual Meeting of the Italian Society for the History of Physics and Astronomy.
European Gravitational Observatory-VIRGO Cascina (Pisa)
XXXIX National Conference of the Italian Society of Historians of Physics and Astronomy (SISFA)
Conference Luigi Bianchi. Between Galois & Einstein.
École Normale Supérieure (Paris), Istituto Veneto di Scienze, Lettere e Arti, Venice.
CERN, Geneva.
European Week of Astronomy and Space Science, Prague.
Symposium Relativity at 100, European Week of Astronomy and Space Science.
Annual Meeting of the European Astronomical Society, Prague.
Prague. Symposium "Enduring Ideas, New Alliances: Social and Epistemic Factors in the Renaissance of General Relativity", 7th European Society for the History of Science Conference
The Birth of Research on Nuclear Fusion in Italy
Sapienza University, Rome. Department of Astronautical, Electrical and Energy Engineering.
International Solvay Institutes, Bruxelles
Harnack House, Berlin. A Century of General Relativity
XIV Marcel Grossmann Meeting. Sapienza University, Rome
DESY, Hamburg
International School for Advanced Studies, Trieste
Bad Saarow/Pieskow
University of Basilicata, Potenza, Italy
Courses at the Annual Winter School on History of Physics organized by the Italian Association for Physics Teaching (A.I.F.)