Museo storico della fisica e Centro di studi e ricerche "Enrico Fermi"

About the museum

The museum was founded to preserve and pass on the historical memory of Enrico Fermi and his research group. It forms part of the Centro Ricerche Enrico Fermi (CREF), which combines the character of a research centre with that of a historical museum. The exhibition route originated in an exhibition presented in 2015 at the Festival della Scienza in Genoa, later shown for some months in Bologna, and set up permanently on the ground floor of the historic building in Via Panisperna at the end of 2019.

The building itself is part of the route. It was built in the 19th century as the seat of the Regio Istituto Fisico of the University of Rome: the new institute was inaugurated in Via Panisperna in 1881, and in the 1930s Fermi and his collaborators, known as the “ragazzi di via Panisperna” (the Via Panisperna boys), carried out there the experiments on neutron-induced radioactivity that led to the Nobel Prize of 1938.

The installations combine objects and traditional panels with multimedia technologies, and trace the milestones of Fermi's life and discoveries: the theory of fermions of 1926, the first nuclear physics congress in Rome, beta rays, slow neutrons, the Nobel Prize, the American period up to nuclear fission, the atomic pile and the Los Alamos project. The museum is located within the Viminale complex, with a guest entrance from Piazza del Viminale.

Highlights

• Historic building of the Regio Istituto Fisico in Via Panisperna
• Route on Fermi and the “ragazzi di via Panisperna”
• Multimedia installations on induced radioactivity and the 1938 Nobel Prize
• Account of Fermi's American period, from fission to the atomic pile
• Monthly public guided tours and routes for schools

Permanent exhibition

• Museo Enrico Fermi – Permanent route on the ground floor of the Via Panisperna building on Fermi, his collaborators and the discoveries of 20th-century physics.

Founded

2019

Operated by

Centro Ricerche Enrico Fermi (CREF)

Admission & discounts

The website does not state the price of the monthly public guided tours.

Accessibility

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Kids & families

Great for kids & families

• Family tours & workshops

For primary schools the project “Piccoli passi nella scienza” is offered, with the Luce and Energia routes, combining experiments and an interactive guided visit.

Getting there & parking

Guest entrance from Piazza del Viminale 1; the registered office and address for deliveries is at Via Panisperna 89 A.

Amenities & dining

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Events & venue rental

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

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