Bruno Rossi and Italian Cosmic-Ray Physics: Padova and the Expedition to Eritrea

After the discovery of cosmic rays in 1912, only in the late 1920s did physicists begin to debate the nature and origin of cosmic rays. The Venetian physicist Bruno Rossi (1905-1993) was one of the first to entirely dedicate his career to this new and fascinating subject. The people and students he collaborated with, while working in Florence first and in Padua later, were to become prominent researchers in different fields of experimental physics, both in Italy and abroad. Gathering fragmented and unpublished material, this dissertation will focus on his work during the interwar period and the influence it had on the development of physics. Particular attention will be paid also to the socio-political aspects of Rossi’s life and career, as he was a Jew and thus suffered from the infamous fascist Racial Laws, which forced him and his wife to leave Italy.