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| Ettore Majorana |
Nowadays when students in high school learn about the basics of the science of Physics, the name of Albert Einstein invariably crops up. This is in large part due to his work in relativity theory, for which he justly won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1921. If any of these students wish to dig further, they might come across the names of other "giants" such as Niels Bohr, Werner Heisenberg, Enrico Fermi, etc.
One name, however, which has been largely forgotten (outside of Physics circles, anyway) is that of Ettore Majorana. Majorana was born in Catania, Sicily on August 5, 1906. Originally an engineering student, he switched his major at university to Physics at the urging of Nobel Laureate, Emilio Segré, who recognized in him the seed of genius.
At an early age Majorana became a part of the "Via Panisperna boys," the team of gifted, young scientists assembled under physicist Enrico Fermi who took their name from the street they worked on in Rome, Italy. Two of these scientists (Oscar D'Agostino & Ettore Majorana) were from Southern Italy/Sicily (D'Agostino was born in Avellino, Campania). Among the discoveries made by this group were the existence of slow neutrons (which later made it possible to construct nuclear reactors), a further understanding of the structure of the atomic nucleus and the forces acting on it, and beta decay. Thus, it could be argued cogently the Atomic Age had its beginnings, not in America (as is taught here), but in Italy.
In his lifetime, Majorana had the privilege of working with not one, but three Nobel Laureates in Physics (the above mentioned Bohr, Heisenberg & Fermi). He became close, personal friends with Heisenberg and Fermi. An interesting anecdote relayed by physicists Emilio Segré and Giancarlo Wick has it that Majorana correctly predicted the existence of the subatomic particle known as the neutron several years before its discovery by James Chadwick, but he refused to write down his hypothesis, even though Fermi himself urged Majorana to do so.
After 1933, Majorana's health began to decline, due to gastritis. He disappeared under mysterious circumstances in March of 1938 while on a ship from Palermo to Naples. His body was never found and the two most likely scenarios are either suicide or murder.
"There are many categories of scientists, people of second and third rank, who do their best, but do not go very far. There are also people of first class, who make great discoveries, which are of capital importance for the development of science. But then there are the geniuses, like Galilei and Newton. Well, Ettore was one of these. Majorana had greater gifts that anyone else in the world; unfortunately he lacked one quality which other men generally have: plain common sense." - Enrico Fermi (as reported by Giuseppe Cocconi)
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