The School is named after the pioneering French astrophysicist Daniel Chalonge (1895-1977) for his work in experimental and theoretical astrophysics. Precursor and creator in France of stellar spectroscopy and precision spectrophotometry, he worked on the conception and construction of new instruments like the hydrogen tube and the microphotometer named after him. His main contributions include : study of the continuum spectrum of atomic hydrogen in stars, the basis of a spectral stellar classification based on two and three new parameters (position, size and gradient flux of the Balmer discontinuity), and accurate measurements of the atmosphere ozone layer.
He was a personality of his time, one of the founders of the Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris. He also worked at the Observatoire de Paris, at the Observatoire d'Haute Provence, and at the Jungfraujoch Scientific Station in Switzerland, where particle physics experiments (such as the Manchester-Cern collaboration) were performed.
A museum dedicated to Daniel Chalonge was inaugurated during the First Course of this School, in September 1-8 1991. The "Daniel Chalonge Museum, Erice, City of Science", is located at the San Domenico Institute of the Ettore Majorana Centre. It exhibits a permanent collection of pictures, documents and instruments retracing the work of D. Chalonge and the institutions where he worked.
The "Ettore Majorana" International Centre for Scientific Culture, a non-profit organisation, takes its inspiration from the outstanding Italian physicist, born in Sicily (1906-1936), after whom the Centre was named.
Embracing about 100 Schools covering all branches of Science, the Centre is situated in the old premedieval city of Erice where two restored monasteries and the ancient Palazzo Ventimiglia -former residence of the Viceroys of Sicily, now a convent named after San Francesco- provide a setting appropriated to high intellectual endeavour.
The "P.A.M. Dirac" Lecture Hall is at the San Domenico Institute; the main Secretariat is at the San Rocco Institute where there is the "Richard Feynman" lecture hall.
A discussion hall named after Olof Palme is located on the top floor of the San Domenico Institute, where a magnificent view from Erice towards "Monte Cofano" can be admired.
Other lecture halls are to be found at the San Francesco Institute.
There are living quarters in all the three Institutes for the persons attending the Courses of the Centre.
The Erice Station of the Seismological Network of the World Laboratory is at the San Rocco Institute. The "Daniel Chalonge Museum" and the "Paul A. M. Dirac Museum" are at the San Domenico Institute.
ORGANIZATION OF THE COURSES
All Lectures will take place in the "P.A.M. Dirac" Lecture Hall at the San Domenico Institute.
There will be three lectures in the morning and three or four lectures in the afternoon.
All Lectures are plenary, have the same duration and are followed by a discussion.
There will be a break of 30 minutes in the morning and a break of 30 minutes in the afternoon. There will be at least a whole free day for Excursion, and a farewell party.
The detailed timetable of the Course will be available in Erice.
A Booklet with the Abstracts of the Lectures of the Course (including references) will be distributed among the participants at the beginning of the Course.
The School will supply participants with xerox copies of lecture notes and/or transparencies.
Participants who expect to need copies of journal articles or preprints should provide their own.
Scientific Secretaries and Reception Secretaries of the Course will assist the lecturers, help and act as a link between participants, the Centre Secretariat and the Director of the Course.
The Secretariat of the Course is located at the computer room at the San Rocco courtyard and should be used for all enquiries. All practical questions and enquiries must be addressed to the Secretariat of the Course.
The Centre Secretariat is located on the right before entering San Rocco Court.
PREPRINT DISPLAY
A preprint display will be arranged. Lecturers and participants are kindly invited to send their recent preprints, reprints or reports for display.
Late material: Upon arrival, after registration, Participants and Lecturers are kindly invited to bring to the Course Secretariat their late reprints, reports, books, and to handle them to the scientific secretaries who will collect such material for the completion of the Preprint Display.
BOOK EXHIBITION
A small exhibition of books will be arranged. Lecturers and participants who are authors of books are kindly invited to bring or to send to the School (address given above) an issue of their books for display.
" D.CHALONGE " EXHIBITION and
" P.A.M. DIRAC " EXHIBITION
There will be an exhibition of pictures, documents and instruments retracing Daniel Chalonge's work and the institutions where he worked. This is located at the "Daniel Chalonge Museum, Erice City of Science", in the San Domenico Institute (entrance Via San Cataldo 2).
The exhibition on P. A. M. Dirac's work and particle physics takes place at the "P.A.M. Dirac" Museum at the San Domenico Institute (entrance P.A.M. Dirac Lecture Hall).
POETIC TOUCH
According to legend, Erice, son of Venus and Neptune, founded a small town on top of a mountain (750 metres above sea level) more than three thousand years ago. The great historian Thucydides (~ 500 B.C.) said that the Elymi -founders of Erice- were survivors of the destruction of Troy. Ancient historians agreed that Erice was the oldest city in Europe.
Homer (~ 1000 B.C.), Theocritus (~ 300 B.C.), Polybius (~ 200 B.C.),Virgil (~ 50 B.C.), Horace
(~ 20 B.C.), and others, have celebrated this magnificent spot in Sicily in their poems. In Erice you can admire the Castle of Venus, the Cyclopean Walls (~ 800 B.C.) and the Gothic Cathedral (~ 1300 A.D.). Erice is at present a mixture of ancient and medieval architecture.
Other masterpieces of ancient civilization are to be found in the neighbourhood : at Motya (Phoenician), Segesta (Elymian), and Selinunte (Greek). In the Aegadian Islands -theatre of the decisive naval battle of the first Punic War (264-241 B.C.)- suggestive neolithic and paleolithic vestiges are still visible : the grottoes of Favignana, the carvings and murals of Levanzo.
Splendid beaches are at San Vito Lo Capo, Scopello, and Cornino, and a wild and rocky coast around Monte Cofano: all at less than one hour's drive from Erice.
| N. SÁNCHEZ | ||
| DIRECTOR OF THE SCHOOL |