15/02/08

Sheldon Lee Glashow

Immagine: © harvardsquarelibrary

Boston - Lettera del premio nobel Sheldon Lee Glashow in risposta alla dichiarazione dell’on. Carlucci sul prof. Maiani

Riceviamo e Pubblichiamo lettera del fisico statunitense Sheldon Lee Glashow (che è stato professore al dipartimento di fisica della Harvard University e in seguito alla Boston University ed insignito nel 1979 con il premio Nobel per la fisica) che scrive al presidente Prodi smentendo seccamente quanto affermato nei giorni scorsi dall'on. Carlucci ((vedasi: http://puglialive.net/home/news_det.php?nid=10245 ) riguardo le capacità del prof. Maiani, ora a capo del CNR, nella quale definisce "falso", "volgare", "invidioso" il tentativo dell'on. Carlucci di attribuirgli opinioni negative su Maiani.

Inoltre afferma che non si è mai opposto alla sua nomina al CERN. E parlando di Maiani lo definisce un "erede di Fermi", uno "scienziato stellare" e "un luminare".



February 14, 2008


Sr. Romano Prodi
Prime Minister

Dear Sir:
I have been shown the contents of a slanderous letter written to you by S.ra Gabriella Carlucci, MP and dated February 7, 2008.

This letter was published in Puglia-Live and has been widely disseminated.

It falsely claims that I have questioned the scientific competence of Prof. Luciano Maiani, the recently elected President of the CNR, and had opposed his appointment at CERN.

These utterly invidious and untrue allegations were part of a more general attempt to belittle the scientific standing of Prof. Maiani.
The letter denigrates his scientific accomplishments over the years and those of his colleagues, Profs. Cabibbo, Parisi and Petronzio, whose work was claimed to have caused serious damage to the image of Italian physics worldwide. Not so!

The remarks that S.ra. Carlucci attributes to me are wholly untrue and malicious.
Prof. Maiani played a key role in our collaboration decades ago, for which he was duly recognized internationally by the awards of the highly regarded Dirac Medal and Sakurai Prize. Maiani’s many research publications have been cited well over 8000 times (not including the 3600 citations to our joint work).

I have never written, suggested or thought anything remotely disparaging about the skill and accomplishments of this stellar Italian scientist.
The more general arguments in S.ra. Carlucci’s letter are equally false, slanderous and malicious.
I, and my colleagues worldwide, have the highest regard for the many outstanding contributions of Italian theorists to particle physics, among whom Profs. Cabibbo, Petronzio and Parisi (as well as Maiani) are leading luminaries and indeed may be regarded as’ ‘heirs to Fermi.’

No event associated with their distinguished scientific careers has ever caused the slightest damage to the image of Italian physics.
In the eyes of a foreign scholar, if there is anything that can damage the image of your country’s scientific institutions, it is the vulgarity and deception of this slanderous attempt at denigration of some of your nation’s most distinguished scientists.

Sincerely,
Sheldon L. Glashow
Nobel Laureate
Foreign Member, Accademia dei Lincei