1 00:00:01,280 --> 00:00:04,000 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 2 00:00:04,120 --> 00:00:12,760 Speaker 1: of I Heart Radios How Stuff Works. Hello, and welcome 3 00:00:12,800 --> 00:00:16,160 Speaker 1: to the podcast. I'm Holly Fry and I'm Tracy B. Wilson. 4 00:00:16,680 --> 00:00:19,200 Speaker 1: Today's topic covers a name that is pretty well known 5 00:00:19,200 --> 00:00:21,599 Speaker 1: in physics circles, but if his life had taken a 6 00:00:21,600 --> 00:00:24,759 Speaker 1: different course, he may well have become a name as 7 00:00:24,800 --> 00:00:27,560 Speaker 1: widely known as that of Albert Einstein or Marie Curie 8 00:00:27,720 --> 00:00:31,240 Speaker 1: in the wider public consciousness. In the nineteen thirties, at 9 00:00:31,680 --> 00:00:35,400 Speaker 1: Marana contributed to the field of quantum mechanics in ways 10 00:00:35,440 --> 00:00:39,800 Speaker 1: that fundamentally shaped the field and are still studied today. 11 00:00:40,000 --> 00:00:42,240 Speaker 1: And then his career had taken him to a really 12 00:00:42,320 --> 00:00:45,920 Speaker 1: prestigious position, and he was making a good living, and 13 00:00:45,960 --> 00:00:48,600 Speaker 1: then he vanished. And what happened to him may never 14 00:00:48,640 --> 00:00:51,479 Speaker 1: be known with certainty, but there are certainly many theories 15 00:00:51,840 --> 00:00:54,360 Speaker 1: and even some official rulings on the matter, and we'll 16 00:00:54,360 --> 00:00:57,080 Speaker 1: talk about those and why some people reject them as 17 00:00:57,080 --> 00:00:58,840 Speaker 1: we get to the end of the episode. So it 18 00:00:58,920 --> 00:01:01,600 Speaker 1: stays a little bit of his free mystery, and I feel, 19 00:01:01,680 --> 00:01:03,640 Speaker 1: for some reason compelled to confess that this is one 20 00:01:03,640 --> 00:01:05,920 Speaker 1: of those episodes that I've kind of been like circling 21 00:01:05,959 --> 00:01:08,520 Speaker 1: for a long time, Like I would work on it 22 00:01:08,600 --> 00:01:10,600 Speaker 1: for and get a few hundred words written and then 23 00:01:10,720 --> 00:01:13,400 Speaker 1: just feel strange about it and want to wander off. 24 00:01:13,440 --> 00:01:16,120 Speaker 1: Because his story is complex, and he's a person that 25 00:01:16,200 --> 00:01:21,080 Speaker 1: unfortunately obviously had a lot going on that was never 26 00:01:21,120 --> 00:01:23,679 Speaker 1: really recorded in terms of where his head was at 27 00:01:23,720 --> 00:01:26,120 Speaker 1: with some of the things he was working on. So 28 00:01:26,240 --> 00:01:29,560 Speaker 1: heads up, there is some discussion of suicide in this episode. 29 00:01:29,560 --> 00:01:31,440 Speaker 1: So if that is a problematic area that you are 30 00:01:31,480 --> 00:01:35,000 Speaker 1: not comfortable hearing about in your history entertainment, uh, this 31 00:01:35,080 --> 00:01:36,800 Speaker 1: may be one to skip over, or you can just 32 00:01:36,840 --> 00:01:39,120 Speaker 1: listen to the first part and skip out after the 33 00:01:39,200 --> 00:01:42,080 Speaker 1: second break. That's where I was born in the city 34 00:01:42,120 --> 00:01:45,360 Speaker 1: of Catania on the island of Sicily near Mount Etna 35 00:01:45,640 --> 00:01:49,000 Speaker 1: on August five, n six. Was born in his family 36 00:01:49,080 --> 00:01:53,640 Speaker 1: home at Via Etna, and he had an impressive family. 37 00:01:54,120 --> 00:01:59,040 Speaker 1: His father, Fabio Massimo Marana, was an engineer and his mother, 38 00:01:59,200 --> 00:02:01,760 Speaker 1: Durna Course, was from a wealthy family. The house that 39 00:02:01,760 --> 00:02:04,960 Speaker 1: they were living in was actually hers. The family also 40 00:02:05,080 --> 00:02:09,680 Speaker 1: owned homes and Palermo and Rome, and Etre's paternal grandfather 41 00:02:09,760 --> 00:02:12,519 Speaker 1: was a lawyer and economist and a politician. His uncles 42 00:02:12,520 --> 00:02:16,480 Speaker 1: were all very educated and respected influential members of the community. 43 00:02:16,560 --> 00:02:20,080 Speaker 1: They worked in fields like education and politics. This was 44 00:02:20,160 --> 00:02:24,080 Speaker 1: really a family that prized hard work and study. And 45 00:02:24,200 --> 00:02:28,200 Speaker 1: in addition to Etre, the Maiorana has had four other children, 46 00:02:29,080 --> 00:02:34,000 Speaker 1: Rosina Salvatore, Luciano and Maria Tore was the fourth of 47 00:02:34,040 --> 00:02:37,880 Speaker 1: the five and as a child, Marana exhibited an advanced 48 00:02:37,880 --> 00:02:42,200 Speaker 1: ability to calculate mathematical problems, and he also excelled at chess. 49 00:02:42,840 --> 00:02:47,480 Speaker 1: And while his education began at home, uh for formal education, 50 00:02:47,520 --> 00:02:50,520 Speaker 1: he was sent to Rome to attend the Instituto Massimo 51 00:02:50,600 --> 00:02:54,760 Speaker 1: a later me a Jesuit boarding school. And it's I 52 00:02:54,880 --> 00:02:58,320 Speaker 1: say to his formal education that homeschooling he got is 53 00:02:58,360 --> 00:03:04,000 Speaker 1: pretty universally recognized is incredibly rigorous. His dad was really, really, 54 00:03:04,120 --> 00:03:07,840 Speaker 1: really um Some would say he was quite hard on 55 00:03:07,880 --> 00:03:10,360 Speaker 1: his kids in terms of like their education and how 56 00:03:10,960 --> 00:03:13,800 Speaker 1: not just rigorous it was, but really really challenging, and 57 00:03:13,840 --> 00:03:16,760 Speaker 1: he expected them to keep up and excel. And then 58 00:03:16,760 --> 00:03:19,799 Speaker 1: when he was in high school, transferred to another school 59 00:03:19,800 --> 00:03:24,480 Speaker 1: in Rome, the Liscato Tasso, to finish his pre university education. 60 00:03:24,880 --> 00:03:27,760 Speaker 1: When he made that transfer in ninety one, the family 61 00:03:27,800 --> 00:03:30,280 Speaker 1: moved to the house that they owned in Rome so 62 00:03:30,320 --> 00:03:33,480 Speaker 1: that Roy could finish his education while still living with 63 00:03:33,520 --> 00:03:36,360 Speaker 1: his family. He got his a diploma two years later 64 00:03:36,400 --> 00:03:39,240 Speaker 1: in nine and he planned to be an engineer like 65 00:03:39,240 --> 00:03:41,960 Speaker 1: a Spather, so he enrolled in a two year program 66 00:03:42,000 --> 00:03:44,880 Speaker 1: at the University of Rome to prepare for engineering school 67 00:03:45,520 --> 00:03:48,600 Speaker 1: and then, following this plan, in nine five, he started 68 00:03:48,640 --> 00:03:52,440 Speaker 1: a three year program at the School of Applications for Engineers. 69 00:03:52,880 --> 00:03:55,600 Speaker 1: For the next two years, Mayorana stayed on track with 70 00:03:55,640 --> 00:03:58,960 Speaker 1: his program, although apparently hydraulics gave him a little bit 71 00:03:58,960 --> 00:04:01,760 Speaker 1: of trouble. That was one area where he he had 72 00:04:01,760 --> 00:04:04,040 Speaker 1: to work a little bit harder to pass. But in 73 00:04:04,960 --> 00:04:07,520 Speaker 1: seven he started a friendship that changed the course of 74 00:04:07,560 --> 00:04:11,000 Speaker 1: his life. He met Emilio Segre. And if that name 75 00:04:11,080 --> 00:04:13,680 Speaker 1: sounds familiar to our science minded listeners, it is because 76 00:04:13,680 --> 00:04:16,919 Speaker 1: he won the Nobel Prize in physics in nineteen fifty nine, 77 00:04:17,120 --> 00:04:20,360 Speaker 1: and it was Segla who convinced ere Marana that he 78 00:04:20,360 --> 00:04:23,719 Speaker 1: should leave his engineering efforts behind and instead explore a 79 00:04:23,760 --> 00:04:28,520 Speaker 1: different avenue, and that was physics. Enrico Fermi incidentally had 80 00:04:28,560 --> 00:04:31,000 Speaker 1: done the same thing for Segre when he was an 81 00:04:31,000 --> 00:04:34,479 Speaker 1: engineering school when Marana met with Fami, who was the 82 00:04:34,480 --> 00:04:37,839 Speaker 1: professor of theoretical physics at the University of Rome. One 83 00:04:37,880 --> 00:04:40,560 Speaker 1: of the things that Faremi showed him was a statistical 84 00:04:40,680 --> 00:04:43,719 Speaker 1: model of the atom, along with a table of calculations 85 00:04:43,760 --> 00:04:47,640 Speaker 1: associated with this model. Came back the next day with 86 00:04:47,720 --> 00:04:50,599 Speaker 1: his own sheet of calculations and asked to look at 87 00:04:50,680 --> 00:04:54,600 Speaker 1: Faremies again, and after he compared these two sheets of calculations, 88 00:04:54,640 --> 00:04:58,280 Speaker 1: he revealed that he had been checking Faremi's math. He 89 00:04:58,400 --> 00:05:01,120 Speaker 1: told the professor that his own calcula lations were all correct, 90 00:05:01,920 --> 00:05:04,680 Speaker 1: and apparently my Irna really was just trusting his own 91 00:05:04,720 --> 00:05:10,160 Speaker 1: math above anyone else's, including Fairmi. Yeah, there's also some 92 00:05:10,320 --> 00:05:12,200 Speaker 1: theory that he was kind of working on his own 93 00:05:12,240 --> 00:05:16,960 Speaker 1: way to do these calculations um and that he was 94 00:05:17,040 --> 00:05:19,800 Speaker 1: kind of just figuring out if the table that Faremi 95 00:05:19,880 --> 00:05:21,880 Speaker 1: had used would worked as well as the one that 96 00:05:21,920 --> 00:05:26,240 Speaker 1: he had been working on. And so in Mayorana, who 97 00:05:26,279 --> 00:05:28,719 Speaker 1: was twenty two at the time, entered the physics program 98 00:05:28,720 --> 00:05:31,359 Speaker 1: at the University of Rome and he became part of 99 00:05:31,360 --> 00:05:34,159 Speaker 1: the group known as the Via Pennispera Boys, named for 100 00:05:34,160 --> 00:05:37,239 Speaker 1: the street where the physics offices were, and this group 101 00:05:37,240 --> 00:05:41,080 Speaker 1: included Emilio Segra as well as other physicists and chemists, 102 00:05:41,800 --> 00:05:44,600 Speaker 1: and up until political unrest led the group to disband. 103 00:05:44,600 --> 00:05:48,760 Speaker 1: In their work advanced the science of particle physics, but 104 00:05:48,800 --> 00:05:51,840 Speaker 1: in doing so they also advanced the science that enabled 105 00:05:51,880 --> 00:05:54,880 Speaker 1: the development of the atomic bomb. The year after he 106 00:05:55,000 --> 00:05:58,040 Speaker 1: joined the physics program, my Iron has turned in his thesis, 107 00:05:58,080 --> 00:06:01,920 Speaker 1: which was titled on the Quantum Mechanics of Radioactive Nuclei. 108 00:06:02,000 --> 00:06:05,640 Speaker 1: When he received a rating of distinction, he decided to 109 00:06:05,680 --> 00:06:08,880 Speaker 1: continue his education and to get a university teaching diploma 110 00:06:09,080 --> 00:06:11,400 Speaker 1: that was issued in nineteen thirty two, and at this 111 00:06:11,440 --> 00:06:14,280 Speaker 1: point he was really considered to be a master in 112 00:06:14,320 --> 00:06:17,400 Speaker 1: his field. As nineteen thirty three began, so did a 113 00:06:17,400 --> 00:06:21,799 Speaker 1: new phase of Majorana's career. The Italian Research Council issued 114 00:06:21,880 --> 00:06:24,680 Speaker 1: him a grant to travel to Leipzig, Germany, the nexus 115 00:06:24,720 --> 00:06:28,200 Speaker 1: of theoretical physics at that time, and there he worked 116 00:06:28,200 --> 00:06:31,400 Speaker 1: alongside Werner Heisenberg, who had been leading the physics world 117 00:06:31,760 --> 00:06:35,800 Speaker 1: into the realm of quantum mechanics. When Heisenberg published his 118 00:06:35,839 --> 00:06:40,880 Speaker 1: paper Quantum Theoretical Reinterpretation of Kinematic and Mechanical Relations in 119 00:06:40,960 --> 00:06:45,680 Speaker 1: n it changed physics completely by introducing the concept of 120 00:06:45,760 --> 00:06:49,279 Speaker 1: quantum mechanics. So for a very brief and dirty reminder 121 00:06:49,279 --> 00:06:52,599 Speaker 1: of exactly what quantum mechanics is, we're just gonna turn 122 00:06:52,640 --> 00:06:58,120 Speaker 1: to Encyclopedia Britannica rather than trying to paraphrase something potentially wrongly. 123 00:06:58,920 --> 00:07:01,800 Speaker 1: It's quote science dealing with the behavior of matter and 124 00:07:01,880 --> 00:07:04,919 Speaker 1: light on the atomic and subatomic scale. It attempts to 125 00:07:04,920 --> 00:07:07,839 Speaker 1: describe and account for the properties of molecules and atoms 126 00:07:07,839 --> 00:07:12,400 Speaker 1: and their constituents electrons, protons, neutrons, and other more esoteric 127 00:07:12,480 --> 00:07:17,880 Speaker 1: particles such as quarks and gluons. These properties include interactions 128 00:07:17,880 --> 00:07:22,000 Speaker 1: of the particles with one another and with electro magnetic radiation. 129 00:07:22,240 --> 00:07:25,720 Speaker 1: I eat light, X rays and gamma rays. And that 130 00:07:25,840 --> 00:07:29,840 Speaker 1: is the definition now today, the current modern one, because 131 00:07:29,840 --> 00:07:32,720 Speaker 1: they were all sort of developing this science at the time. 132 00:07:33,160 --> 00:07:35,640 Speaker 1: And if you want another insight, there is a very 133 00:07:35,640 --> 00:07:39,760 Speaker 1: short BBC video on YouTube on which the painfully charming 134 00:07:39,800 --> 00:07:43,560 Speaker 1: Brian Cox describes quantum mechanics in sixty seconds. I love 135 00:07:43,600 --> 00:07:45,840 Speaker 1: it because I really like Brian Cox, and we will 136 00:07:45,880 --> 00:07:48,040 Speaker 1: link to that in the show notes. So the point 137 00:07:48,040 --> 00:07:50,160 Speaker 1: of all this is that it was a really big 138 00:07:50,200 --> 00:07:52,600 Speaker 1: deal for my Ironic to work with the man who 139 00:07:52,880 --> 00:07:56,480 Speaker 1: had invented this whole new field of physics just a 140 00:07:56,520 --> 00:08:00,920 Speaker 1: few years earlier. And it he wasn't only there with Heisenberg. 141 00:08:01,000 --> 00:08:03,640 Speaker 1: As we said, Leipzig was a hotbed of theory and 142 00:08:03,760 --> 00:08:07,480 Speaker 1: discovery at this point, so other jailblazers and physics were 143 00:08:07,520 --> 00:08:12,760 Speaker 1: there as well, including Friedrich Hund, Felix Book, and Rudolph Piles. 144 00:08:13,680 --> 00:08:16,320 Speaker 1: Spent the first half of nineteen thirty three in Leipzig, 145 00:08:16,480 --> 00:08:18,680 Speaker 1: and then he traveled to Copenhagen to spend time with 146 00:08:18,760 --> 00:08:23,040 Speaker 1: Danish physicist Niels Henrick David Bore. He returned to Germany 147 00:08:23,160 --> 00:08:25,160 Speaker 1: late in the summer and then went home to Rome 148 00:08:25,280 --> 00:08:29,400 Speaker 1: that autumn. Before this trip and his relatively brief career 149 00:08:29,480 --> 00:08:32,200 Speaker 1: in physics so far, my Irona had already published ten 150 00:08:32,240 --> 00:08:35,080 Speaker 1: papers and been working on others. But once he got 151 00:08:35,120 --> 00:08:37,559 Speaker 1: back to Rome in late nineteen thirty three, he stopped 152 00:08:37,559 --> 00:08:41,360 Speaker 1: writing almost entirely. He had also gotten sick while he 153 00:08:41,400 --> 00:08:44,920 Speaker 1: was traveling, and he had ongoing complaints of digestive issues. 154 00:08:45,320 --> 00:08:49,240 Speaker 1: Doctors chalked this up to nervous exhaustion and it never 155 00:08:49,280 --> 00:08:52,720 Speaker 1: really went away. Yeah, and he did write, but not 156 00:08:52,920 --> 00:08:56,920 Speaker 1: in like a sort of organized way that resulted in papers. 157 00:08:56,960 --> 00:08:59,960 Speaker 1: He was writing his ideas down, but he really didn't 158 00:09:00,040 --> 00:09:03,040 Speaker 1: have like the drive that he wants did to communicate 159 00:09:03,520 --> 00:09:05,560 Speaker 1: his ideas and thoughts in a way that other people 160 00:09:05,600 --> 00:09:08,800 Speaker 1: could read them. It almost seems as though the young 161 00:09:08,840 --> 00:09:11,360 Speaker 1: man who had trusted his own mass more than Enrico 162 00:09:11,400 --> 00:09:15,199 Speaker 1: Fermi's kind of got lost. In ninety three is Marana 163 00:09:15,280 --> 00:09:18,439 Speaker 1: traveled around Europe and worked with these people in quantum mechanics. 164 00:09:19,280 --> 00:09:21,400 Speaker 1: After that, he seemed to stop seeing his work as 165 00:09:21,480 --> 00:09:24,720 Speaker 1: unique or exceptional, so much so that he really didn't 166 00:09:24,760 --> 00:09:27,000 Speaker 1: feel compelled to write about it. We're about to get 167 00:09:27,040 --> 00:09:29,400 Speaker 1: to a moment in physics history that really could have 168 00:09:29,520 --> 00:09:32,679 Speaker 1: belonged to my Irana, but he dragged his feet and 169 00:09:32,679 --> 00:09:34,800 Speaker 1: it went to someone else. But before we get to that, 170 00:09:34,880 --> 00:09:36,680 Speaker 1: we are going to have a word from one of 171 00:09:36,679 --> 00:09:49,840 Speaker 1: our sponsors. Into the now famous couple. Irne Jolio Curie 172 00:09:50,000 --> 00:09:53,920 Speaker 1: and her husband Frederick conducted experiments that indicated that there 173 00:09:54,000 --> 00:09:56,800 Speaker 1: was an unknown particle that could enter matter and expel 174 00:09:56,840 --> 00:09:59,640 Speaker 1: a proton, and the couple positive that it could be 175 00:09:59,640 --> 00:10:02,600 Speaker 1: a foe puton, but Mayorana, thinking that it must be 176 00:10:02,640 --> 00:10:05,000 Speaker 1: a particle with mass similar to that of a proton 177 00:10:05,559 --> 00:10:09,199 Speaker 1: intuited the existence of what we now know today as neutrons. 178 00:10:09,600 --> 00:10:11,400 Speaker 1: But he's not the person who got the credit for 179 00:10:11,440 --> 00:10:14,160 Speaker 1: this discovery, because even though Fairmi told him he needed 180 00:10:14,160 --> 00:10:17,000 Speaker 1: to write a paper on this work, he never did it. 181 00:10:17,480 --> 00:10:21,079 Speaker 1: Other physicists had also been working with the same information 182 00:10:21,160 --> 00:10:24,760 Speaker 1: that had been compiled by the Jolio curies, and it 183 00:10:24,880 --> 00:10:28,040 Speaker 1: was James Chadwick of the UK who ultimately got credit 184 00:10:28,120 --> 00:10:31,600 Speaker 1: for discovering the neutron. Marana had just sat on his 185 00:10:31,640 --> 00:10:33,800 Speaker 1: work for too long and all of this, I mean, 186 00:10:33,840 --> 00:10:37,440 Speaker 1: it's sort of making it sound like he just didn't 187 00:10:37,760 --> 00:10:40,040 Speaker 1: do it forever, but this all happened in just a 188 00:10:40,040 --> 00:10:43,600 Speaker 1: few months. Yeah, I mean, this field of physics and 189 00:10:43,720 --> 00:10:47,839 Speaker 1: particle physics was really rapidly kind of exploding at this time. 190 00:10:47,880 --> 00:10:50,160 Speaker 1: That's why we talked about, you know, Leipzig being the 191 00:10:50,559 --> 00:10:55,000 Speaker 1: this hot point of information development, and and similarly Rome 192 00:10:55,040 --> 00:10:57,400 Speaker 1: had a lot of stuff going on as well. And 193 00:10:57,440 --> 00:11:00,400 Speaker 1: as Mayorana seemed to pull himself a little bit away 194 00:11:00,400 --> 00:11:03,400 Speaker 1: from physics, he started to develop interests in other fields 195 00:11:03,400 --> 00:11:05,920 Speaker 1: outside of science, and he wrote a little bit about those, 196 00:11:05,960 --> 00:11:08,400 Speaker 1: but again never at the level that he had been 197 00:11:08,440 --> 00:11:13,000 Speaker 1: writing papers before. So philosophy, economics, and politics all grabbed 198 00:11:13,000 --> 00:11:16,920 Speaker 1: his attention to varying degrees. In nineteen thirty seven, a 199 00:11:17,000 --> 00:11:20,600 Speaker 1: new opportunity presented itself. The University of Rome was opening 200 00:11:20,600 --> 00:11:24,560 Speaker 1: a competition for new physics chairs. Fairy led the selection 201 00:11:24,559 --> 00:11:27,679 Speaker 1: committee and strongly encouraged my Irona to go after one 202 00:11:27,720 --> 00:11:30,200 Speaker 1: of these positions, and this finally got him out of 203 00:11:30,200 --> 00:11:32,520 Speaker 1: the writing slump that he had been in. He turned 204 00:11:32,520 --> 00:11:35,439 Speaker 1: in a paper called Symmetrical Theory of the Electron and 205 00:11:35,480 --> 00:11:39,559 Speaker 1: the Positron. Tore Marona was not granted any of the 206 00:11:39,600 --> 00:11:43,000 Speaker 1: three available positions, though, and as an aside, there is 207 00:11:43,040 --> 00:11:46,360 Speaker 1: actually some nebulousness around the writing of this paper. It 208 00:11:46,440 --> 00:11:48,680 Speaker 1: has been alleged that fairm Me may have written the 209 00:11:48,679 --> 00:11:52,600 Speaker 1: paper on Mayorana's behalf based on research notes that Mayorana 210 00:11:52,679 --> 00:11:55,800 Speaker 1: had handy when this topic was broached between the two men. 211 00:11:56,240 --> 00:11:59,240 Speaker 1: Even as that idea has floated around, it's been met 212 00:11:59,240 --> 00:12:03,760 Speaker 1: with some really via meant rebuttal Italian physicist Erasumo Ricami, 213 00:12:03,800 --> 00:12:06,960 Speaker 1: who published a collection of Byrona's notes, wrote this in 214 00:12:07,000 --> 00:12:11,160 Speaker 1: a article quote, we have been told that rumors arose 215 00:12:11,280 --> 00:12:13,679 Speaker 1: e g In the U s A about the fact 216 00:12:13,720 --> 00:12:17,200 Speaker 1: that e. Ferremi himself could have written down E. Mayrona's 217 00:12:17,960 --> 00:12:21,679 Speaker 1: seven article on neutrinos on the basis of Marana's idea. 218 00:12:22,440 --> 00:12:25,040 Speaker 1: A fact like that is rejected by all people who 219 00:12:25,040 --> 00:12:29,120 Speaker 1: have been studying my Irona's writing since decades for the 220 00:12:29,200 --> 00:12:33,679 Speaker 1: reasons that one the characteristic E. M's sharp style appears 221 00:12:33,720 --> 00:12:35,679 Speaker 1: the same in all his papers, while it is quite 222 00:12:35,760 --> 00:12:40,520 Speaker 1: different from Faremi's style. To E M had practically prepared 223 00:12:40,640 --> 00:12:44,120 Speaker 1: his ninety seven article by nineteen thirty three, as results 224 00:12:44,160 --> 00:12:48,880 Speaker 1: from many documents hand written by him. Three. Enrico Fermi, 225 00:12:49,000 --> 00:12:52,160 Speaker 1: even if he recognized E. Mayrana as much higher than 226 00:12:52,240 --> 00:12:55,400 Speaker 1: himself in theoretical physics, was a big man and never 227 00:12:55,440 --> 00:12:59,960 Speaker 1: would have acted as Marana's secretary. I sort of loved 228 00:13:00,160 --> 00:13:01,840 Speaker 1: like no, his ego would not have let him do 229 00:13:01,960 --> 00:13:07,040 Speaker 1: that either. But all that aside. The reason that Marana 230 00:13:07,200 --> 00:13:09,400 Speaker 1: wasn't offered any of the positions that he had been 231 00:13:09,440 --> 00:13:12,920 Speaker 1: applying for in that chair competition wasn't because his paper 232 00:13:13,000 --> 00:13:16,520 Speaker 1: was poorly received. It was because his quote high fame 233 00:13:16,559 --> 00:13:20,000 Speaker 1: of singular expertise reached in the field of theoretical physics 234 00:13:20,559 --> 00:13:22,680 Speaker 1: was believed to be far beyond that of all of 235 00:13:22,720 --> 00:13:26,440 Speaker 1: his other competitors. He was instead offered a different position, 236 00:13:26,920 --> 00:13:30,560 Speaker 1: teaching quantum mechanics at the Naples Physics Institute, a job 237 00:13:30,600 --> 00:13:34,880 Speaker 1: that he started in January nine eight. Marana moved first 238 00:13:34,920 --> 00:13:37,720 Speaker 1: into the Hotel to Naples, then to the Hotel Terminus, 239 00:13:38,120 --> 00:13:41,160 Speaker 1: and upgraded two more lavish digs at the Hotel Bologna 240 00:13:41,320 --> 00:13:45,679 Speaker 1: not long after classes started on January. But Better, a 241 00:13:45,800 --> 00:13:49,320 Speaker 1: who was far beyond even his peers in academia, did 242 00:13:49,320 --> 00:13:53,120 Speaker 1: not really simplify his lectures for students. He really lost 243 00:13:53,160 --> 00:13:56,480 Speaker 1: their attention as a consequence. His mother and his sister 244 00:13:56,640 --> 00:13:59,560 Speaker 1: attended his opening lecture, and it was his mother's suggestion 245 00:13:59,600 --> 00:14:02,440 Speaker 1: that got him to move to the nicer Hotel Terminus. 246 00:14:02,920 --> 00:14:06,560 Speaker 1: Somewhere around this time, things seemed as though they shifted 247 00:14:06,600 --> 00:14:09,800 Speaker 1: to a darker place for Mayorana. He had always been 248 00:14:09,800 --> 00:14:13,239 Speaker 1: really shy, and most people described him as an extreme introvert, 249 00:14:13,720 --> 00:14:17,280 Speaker 1: but he became even more reclusive. He hired a nurse 250 00:14:17,320 --> 00:14:20,680 Speaker 1: for his guest writis because that was still troubling him, 251 00:14:20,680 --> 00:14:23,000 Speaker 1: He withdrew all of his money from the Naples bank, 252 00:14:23,000 --> 00:14:25,280 Speaker 1: where he had an account, and then on March he 253 00:14:25,360 --> 00:14:28,200 Speaker 1: sent this note to his boss, Antonio Correlli, who was 254 00:14:28,240 --> 00:14:32,960 Speaker 1: the director of the Naples Physics Institute. Dear Correlli, I 255 00:14:33,000 --> 00:14:35,760 Speaker 1: have made a decision that was by now inevitable. It 256 00:14:35,840 --> 00:14:38,480 Speaker 1: doesn't contain a single speck of selfishness. But I do 257 00:14:38,560 --> 00:14:43,200 Speaker 1: recognize the inconvenience that my unanticipated disappearance may cause to 258 00:14:43,240 --> 00:14:46,400 Speaker 1: the students and yourself. For this too, I beg you 259 00:14:46,480 --> 00:14:49,280 Speaker 1: to forgive me, But above all, for having betrayed the trust, 260 00:14:49,400 --> 00:14:52,200 Speaker 1: the sincere friendship, and the sympathy that you have so 261 00:14:52,320 --> 00:14:55,280 Speaker 1: kindly offered me over the past few months. I beg 262 00:14:55,320 --> 00:14:57,640 Speaker 1: you also to remember me to all those I've come 263 00:14:57,680 --> 00:15:01,239 Speaker 1: to know and appreciate it, your institute in particular, Scutie. 264 00:15:01,880 --> 00:15:04,520 Speaker 1: But of all I shall preserve the dearest memories at 265 00:15:04,560 --> 00:15:08,480 Speaker 1: least until eleven o'clock this evening, and possibly beyond. But 266 00:15:08,520 --> 00:15:11,440 Speaker 1: then he also sent a telegram to Corelli telling him 267 00:15:11,480 --> 00:15:14,000 Speaker 1: to disregard that note that he had just sent, and 268 00:15:14,040 --> 00:15:16,760 Speaker 1: he wrote another note to his family, and aside from 269 00:15:16,760 --> 00:15:19,640 Speaker 1: the date place and mentioned that it was for his family. 270 00:15:19,680 --> 00:15:22,360 Speaker 1: In the heading, it simply read quote, I've got a 271 00:15:22,360 --> 00:15:24,440 Speaker 1: single wish that you do not wear black for me. 272 00:15:24,800 --> 00:15:27,880 Speaker 1: If you want to bow to custom, then bear some 273 00:15:27,960 --> 00:15:30,760 Speaker 1: sign of morning, but for no more than three days 274 00:15:31,280 --> 00:15:33,560 Speaker 1: after that, remember me if you can in your hearts 275 00:15:33,600 --> 00:15:36,560 Speaker 1: and forgive me. But Maaanna did not send that note, 276 00:15:36,600 --> 00:15:38,680 Speaker 1: and we will return to how it was discovered in 277 00:15:38,680 --> 00:15:42,840 Speaker 1: just a moment. Whether these two notes are suicide notes 278 00:15:43,040 --> 00:15:47,200 Speaker 1: has remained up for debate, because while the English translation 279 00:15:47,720 --> 00:15:51,840 Speaker 1: certainly seems to be that he never explicitly mentioned death, 280 00:15:51,880 --> 00:15:55,440 Speaker 1: and the word choices that he made in Italian apparently 281 00:15:55,440 --> 00:15:59,480 Speaker 1: have some ambiguity that doesn't really carry over to English, 282 00:15:59,480 --> 00:16:03,080 Speaker 1: and these inflations. Additionally, some of the characteristics that are 283 00:16:03,120 --> 00:16:06,520 Speaker 1: often associated with suicide notes in terms of handwriting aren't 284 00:16:06,520 --> 00:16:11,040 Speaker 1: really present in these notes. His handwriting is really clean, 285 00:16:11,120 --> 00:16:14,920 Speaker 1: with very strong lines. A lot of times handwriting analysis 286 00:16:15,280 --> 00:16:19,440 Speaker 1: will report that there's some irregularity in suicide notes. There 287 00:16:19,480 --> 00:16:23,520 Speaker 1: are some questions about handwriting analysis and like how much 288 00:16:23,560 --> 00:16:25,880 Speaker 1: you can lean on it. But that is one piece 289 00:16:25,920 --> 00:16:28,680 Speaker 1: of all this, right, That's the sort of tricky thing 290 00:16:28,720 --> 00:16:32,400 Speaker 1: about Mayorana. And we'll we'll talk about some theories in 291 00:16:32,400 --> 00:16:35,480 Speaker 1: a moment that there is even the evidence and I 292 00:16:35,480 --> 00:16:37,520 Speaker 1: have to use the air quotes is really just kind 293 00:16:37,560 --> 00:16:40,760 Speaker 1: of like pattern recognition and trying to pick out irregularities 294 00:16:40,760 --> 00:16:42,920 Speaker 1: that do or do not make sense, to try to 295 00:16:43,000 --> 00:16:46,680 Speaker 1: identify situations and what may have been going on. But 296 00:16:46,760 --> 00:16:52,160 Speaker 1: really it's it's a very, very complex and mysterious case. 297 00:16:53,240 --> 00:16:55,840 Speaker 1: But the day after these two notes were written, Mayorana 298 00:16:55,960 --> 00:16:59,120 Speaker 1: checked into a hotel in Palermo, and then he wrote 299 00:16:59,120 --> 00:17:03,000 Speaker 1: other notes which on far less grave. He first telegrammed 300 00:17:03,000 --> 00:17:06,240 Speaker 1: his boss Antonio Carrelli, a note which read, don't be alarmed. 301 00:17:06,560 --> 00:17:09,639 Speaker 1: A letter follows. That letter did arrive soon after, and 302 00:17:09,680 --> 00:17:11,920 Speaker 1: it read quote, I hope that my letter and telegram 303 00:17:11,960 --> 00:17:15,199 Speaker 1: have reached you together. The sea has rejected me, and 304 00:17:15,240 --> 00:17:19,720 Speaker 1: tomorrow I'll return to the hotel Bologna, perhaps traveling together 305 00:17:19,960 --> 00:17:23,200 Speaker 1: with the same letter. I have, however, decided to give 306 00:17:23,280 --> 00:17:26,879 Speaker 1: up teaching. Don't take me for an Ibsen heroine, because 307 00:17:27,320 --> 00:17:30,280 Speaker 1: the case is quite different. I'm at your disposal for 308 00:17:30,359 --> 00:17:34,000 Speaker 1: further details. So even though the sound of that second 309 00:17:34,000 --> 00:17:37,160 Speaker 1: note was, as I said, less grave, Correlli was still 310 00:17:37,280 --> 00:17:40,040 Speaker 1: very concerned. This was still a weird series of missives 311 00:17:40,080 --> 00:17:42,439 Speaker 1: to have received, and he was so concerned that he 312 00:17:42,480 --> 00:17:45,520 Speaker 1: reached out to the Mayorana family and at Today's brother 313 00:17:45,640 --> 00:17:50,080 Speaker 1: Salvatore and Luciano traveled to Naples. Immediately after the family 314 00:17:50,119 --> 00:17:53,520 Speaker 1: heard from Correlli, they went to Mayorana's apartment at the 315 00:17:53,520 --> 00:17:56,200 Speaker 1: Hotel Bologna, and it was there that the note written 316 00:17:56,240 --> 00:17:59,119 Speaker 1: to the family was found sitting on his desk. After 317 00:17:59,240 --> 00:18:05,360 Speaker 1: March eight, no one had contact with a Marana. He 318 00:18:05,440 --> 00:18:09,000 Speaker 1: took a steamer from Palermo to Naples on and on 319 00:18:09,119 --> 00:18:12,880 Speaker 1: the ship he talked to a fellow academic named ster Erry, 320 00:18:13,320 --> 00:18:16,199 Speaker 1: who was a professor at the University of Palermo. But 321 00:18:16,240 --> 00:18:20,520 Speaker 1: there's no record of Marana ever disembarking from this ship. 322 00:18:20,720 --> 00:18:22,800 Speaker 1: There are also even some people who think he never 323 00:18:22,840 --> 00:18:24,680 Speaker 1: really got on that ship and that was a case 324 00:18:24,800 --> 00:18:29,000 Speaker 1: of misidentification that it was him. But in any case, 325 00:18:29,040 --> 00:18:32,160 Speaker 1: the search began and the Mayorana family offered a reward 326 00:18:32,240 --> 00:18:35,480 Speaker 1: of thirty thousand lire, but no trace of the physicist 327 00:18:35,600 --> 00:18:39,440 Speaker 1: was found. Even Benito Mussolini, who was serving as Italy's 328 00:18:39,480 --> 00:18:42,280 Speaker 1: Prime minister at the time, was contacted by both the 329 00:18:42,320 --> 00:18:46,760 Speaker 1: Mayorana family and by Enrico Fermi with pleas to mobilize 330 00:18:46,840 --> 00:18:50,760 Speaker 1: every possible means to hunt for Etre. Fermy was very 331 00:18:50,800 --> 00:18:53,280 Speaker 1: passionate in his letter to the Prime Minister, making it 332 00:18:53,400 --> 00:18:56,720 Speaker 1: very clear that Mayorana was far too important to science 333 00:18:56,760 --> 00:18:59,960 Speaker 1: to not exhaust all avenues of search. He wrote, quote, 334 00:19:00,280 --> 00:19:03,320 Speaker 1: I do not hesitate to declare, and this is not hyperbole, 335 00:19:03,760 --> 00:19:06,359 Speaker 1: that of all the Italian and foreign scholars whom I 336 00:19:06,400 --> 00:19:10,000 Speaker 1: had the opportunity to meet, Majorana is the one who, 337 00:19:10,000 --> 00:19:12,919 Speaker 1: for the depth of his genius, has impressed me the most. 338 00:19:13,359 --> 00:19:16,199 Speaker 1: Although there was a police search, no trace of the 339 00:19:16,240 --> 00:19:19,520 Speaker 1: physicist was ever found. The last police note on the 340 00:19:19,560 --> 00:19:24,760 Speaker 1: matter was filed on August six. In December, he was 341 00:19:24,840 --> 00:19:29,680 Speaker 1: formally decreed as having resigned on March five, siding abandonment 342 00:19:29,720 --> 00:19:33,720 Speaker 1: of duty. Yeah, they had to be very structured about 343 00:19:33,760 --> 00:19:38,720 Speaker 1: how like these academic positions were opened and ended, so 344 00:19:38,800 --> 00:19:40,719 Speaker 1: they had to actually make a formal degree that he 345 00:19:40,760 --> 00:19:44,640 Speaker 1: was not working there anymore. One of Etana's papers, which 346 00:19:44,680 --> 00:19:47,639 Speaker 1: he wrote for publication in a sociology periodical and not 347 00:19:48,080 --> 00:19:52,240 Speaker 1: a scientific journal, was published posthumously. One of his brothers 348 00:19:52,240 --> 00:19:54,800 Speaker 1: had found the paper, which was the value of Statistical 349 00:19:54,880 --> 00:19:58,639 Speaker 1: Laws in Physics and Social Sciences, among his things after 350 00:19:58,720 --> 00:20:02,040 Speaker 1: his disappearance, and that was published in two in the 351 00:20:02,119 --> 00:20:05,680 Speaker 1: journal Sciencia. And this paper in some ways marries all 352 00:20:05,680 --> 00:20:09,040 Speaker 1: of those interests that we talked about him pursuing before 353 00:20:09,080 --> 00:20:11,880 Speaker 1: he vanished from his life, as well as quantum mechanics, 354 00:20:11,880 --> 00:20:14,919 Speaker 1: and it puts forth the idea that complex economic and 355 00:20:15,000 --> 00:20:18,000 Speaker 1: social systems can be studied and investigated using the same 356 00:20:18,080 --> 00:20:21,280 Speaker 1: means that one would analyze and model physical systems like 357 00:20:21,359 --> 00:20:26,200 Speaker 1: atoms and sub atomic particles. So where did this gifted 358 00:20:26,200 --> 00:20:30,119 Speaker 1: physicists go? We will talk about the many hypotheses and 359 00:20:30,280 --> 00:20:34,080 Speaker 1: ideas about his disappearance after we have another word from 360 00:20:34,080 --> 00:20:37,000 Speaker 1: a sponsor that keeps stuffy miss and history class going. 361 00:20:45,119 --> 00:20:48,280 Speaker 1: Because of the manner of Mayodanna's disappearance and the lack 362 00:20:48,320 --> 00:20:51,080 Speaker 1: of any trace of him afterward, there have been many 363 00:20:51,200 --> 00:20:53,760 Speaker 1: ideas about what exactly happened to him that have come 364 00:20:53,840 --> 00:20:57,760 Speaker 1: up in the intervening eight decades. So the most obvious 365 00:20:57,760 --> 00:21:00,320 Speaker 1: of these, of course, is that he died by suis side, 366 00:21:00,440 --> 00:21:02,760 Speaker 1: and the notes to his family and his boss do 367 00:21:02,840 --> 00:21:05,880 Speaker 1: seem to point in that direction. But family members really 368 00:21:05,880 --> 00:21:08,760 Speaker 1: remained adamant that as a devout Catholic, he would not 369 00:21:08,840 --> 00:21:12,680 Speaker 1: have committed the sin of taking his own life. And additionally, 370 00:21:12,760 --> 00:21:15,240 Speaker 1: as we mentioned, there was nobody that was ever recovered. 371 00:21:15,480 --> 00:21:18,720 Speaker 1: So the suicide theory hinges on the idea that he 372 00:21:18,800 --> 00:21:22,399 Speaker 1: jumped into the sea en route from Palermo to Naples, 373 00:21:22,440 --> 00:21:25,919 Speaker 1: and that does make sense given that he never reappeared 374 00:21:25,920 --> 00:21:30,520 Speaker 1: on shore Naples, but there's also no conclusive evidence, and 375 00:21:30,640 --> 00:21:34,399 Speaker 1: his faith also figures into another popular theory that he 376 00:21:34,480 --> 00:21:36,600 Speaker 1: ran away to live in a monastery for the rest 377 00:21:36,600 --> 00:21:41,040 Speaker 1: of his days. A young man fitting his description reportedly 378 00:21:41,080 --> 00:21:44,080 Speaker 1: did go to the Kisa de Guzo Novo, which is 379 00:21:44,119 --> 00:21:46,520 Speaker 1: a church in Naples that could be its own episode, 380 00:21:46,520 --> 00:21:49,520 Speaker 1: one day and asked to be admitted into the religious 381 00:21:49,640 --> 00:21:51,800 Speaker 1: order there, and that man, who may or may not 382 00:21:51,920 --> 00:21:54,679 Speaker 1: have been may A Donna, was told that some logistics 383 00:21:54,680 --> 00:21:57,479 Speaker 1: had to be worked out first regarding lodging, and so 384 00:21:57,560 --> 00:21:59,440 Speaker 1: he didn't really pursue it, and he left. He thanked 385 00:21:59,480 --> 00:22:02,400 Speaker 1: them and just disappeared. And a member of the clergy 386 00:22:02,440 --> 00:22:05,800 Speaker 1: to whom Mayorana had confessed on several occasions, did indicate 387 00:22:05,880 --> 00:22:08,960 Speaker 1: that while the young man did have crises of faith 388 00:22:09,000 --> 00:22:12,000 Speaker 1: from time to time, suicide based on his knowledge of 389 00:22:12,000 --> 00:22:16,199 Speaker 1: Mayorana really seemed entirely outside the realm of possibility. So 390 00:22:16,280 --> 00:22:18,879 Speaker 1: the theory goes that he found a monastery outside of 391 00:22:19,000 --> 00:22:22,520 Speaker 1: Naples that would take him. So both of those and 392 00:22:22,600 --> 00:22:25,560 Speaker 1: many other ideas all hinge on this idea that my 393 00:22:25,600 --> 00:22:28,800 Speaker 1: Aerna saw the destructive power and the work that was 394 00:22:28,840 --> 00:22:32,440 Speaker 1: being done in theoretical physics, and that it drove him 395 00:22:32,520 --> 00:22:35,760 Speaker 1: away from the field that he's so excelled in, and 396 00:22:35,800 --> 00:22:39,000 Speaker 1: that that left him either with no desire to live 397 00:22:39,160 --> 00:22:42,520 Speaker 1: or no desire to participate in society. Yeah. I mean, 398 00:22:42,880 --> 00:22:45,920 Speaker 1: like I said, there aren't a lot of of notes 399 00:22:45,960 --> 00:22:48,320 Speaker 1: written about like what was going on internally with him, 400 00:22:48,359 --> 00:22:51,879 Speaker 1: so it's all conjecture, but certainly those were some things 401 00:22:51,920 --> 00:22:55,840 Speaker 1: that were happening. Um. Another idea that has been popular 402 00:22:55,880 --> 00:22:58,119 Speaker 1: over the years is that he may have actually been 403 00:22:58,200 --> 00:23:02,480 Speaker 1: murdered by Nazis. Marana had, as you may recall, worked 404 00:23:02,520 --> 00:23:06,480 Speaker 1: closely with Werner Heisenberg, who eventually worked on Germany's nuclear 405 00:23:06,520 --> 00:23:09,800 Speaker 1: weapons project during the Second World War, using some of 406 00:23:09,800 --> 00:23:12,879 Speaker 1: the science and technology that they had developed together. So 407 00:23:13,000 --> 00:23:16,120 Speaker 1: proponents of this theory believe that because Mayorana became something 408 00:23:16,160 --> 00:23:19,000 Speaker 1: of a loose end in relation to Heisenberg's work, that 409 00:23:19,080 --> 00:23:22,960 Speaker 1: he was simply eliminated. To complicate matters even more, as 410 00:23:23,000 --> 00:23:27,160 Speaker 1: we have often discussed in previous episodes involving missing persons, 411 00:23:27,200 --> 00:23:31,080 Speaker 1: there are almost always eyewitness accounts claiming that they have 412 00:23:31,119 --> 00:23:33,800 Speaker 1: seen the person in question, and in the case of 413 00:23:33,800 --> 00:23:37,720 Speaker 1: my Irana, he was allegedly spotted at a convent in Portici, 414 00:23:37,880 --> 00:23:41,400 Speaker 1: Italy on April twelfth, That was two weeks after he disappeared. 415 00:23:42,040 --> 00:23:45,480 Speaker 1: He reportedly came there and asked to join the religious order. 416 00:23:46,200 --> 00:23:49,520 Speaker 1: Many years after his disappearance, in the nineteen seventies, a 417 00:23:49,680 --> 00:23:52,879 Speaker 1: number of sightings were reported in Argentina. Yeah, there are 418 00:23:52,920 --> 00:23:56,239 Speaker 1: some weird things where he is reportedly seen. I'm not 419 00:23:56,280 --> 00:24:00,119 Speaker 1: even including all of the alleged sightings at convents, and 420 00:24:00,119 --> 00:24:03,440 Speaker 1: that he wanted to to basically live in a convent 421 00:24:03,600 --> 00:24:06,680 Speaker 1: rather than in a monastery. Again, these are all theoretical 422 00:24:06,760 --> 00:24:08,600 Speaker 1: and people have their own ideas about why he may 423 00:24:08,640 --> 00:24:11,479 Speaker 1: have done that. Um, but we just don't know. So 424 00:24:11,520 --> 00:24:13,399 Speaker 1: in case you're like, hey, you said monastery once and 425 00:24:13,440 --> 00:24:16,920 Speaker 1: convent later both have played into these rumors. One of 426 00:24:16,960 --> 00:24:22,280 Speaker 1: these sightings, reported by Chilean physicist Carlo Rivera Cruchaga, indicated 427 00:24:22,320 --> 00:24:24,960 Speaker 1: that he had met a woman named Mrs Talbert who 428 00:24:25,000 --> 00:24:28,639 Speaker 1: claimed to know et Maana in Buenos Aires and this 429 00:24:28,680 --> 00:24:31,919 Speaker 1: took place in Ninette and that woman who told him 430 00:24:32,000 --> 00:24:36,040 Speaker 1: that Majorana was friends with her son identified at in 431 00:24:36,040 --> 00:24:39,320 Speaker 1: a photo from a physics book that Rivera had with him. 432 00:24:39,520 --> 00:24:42,240 Speaker 1: Rivera returned to Buenos Aires in nineteen fifty four and 433 00:24:42,280 --> 00:24:44,359 Speaker 1: intended to follow up on the matter. He was hoping 434 00:24:44,359 --> 00:24:47,359 Speaker 1: to get an introduction, but Mrs Talbert was no longer 435 00:24:47,440 --> 00:24:50,920 Speaker 1: living there that he could find. In nineteen sixty one, 436 00:24:51,080 --> 00:24:54,159 Speaker 1: on another trip, Rivera said that a waiter saw him 437 00:24:54,200 --> 00:24:57,919 Speaker 1: working on physics equations and mentioned another scientist who had 438 00:24:57,960 --> 00:25:00,560 Speaker 1: sometimes come in and work on similar problems at the table. 439 00:25:01,119 --> 00:25:04,919 Speaker 1: That waiter also identified e Mayorana as that man that 440 00:25:04,960 --> 00:25:08,480 Speaker 1: he was talking about in a photo that Rivera had 441 00:25:08,520 --> 00:25:11,640 Speaker 1: with him. So these rumors that he started a new 442 00:25:11,680 --> 00:25:15,000 Speaker 1: life in South America had been in play for years, 443 00:25:15,200 --> 00:25:17,560 Speaker 1: and those sightings seemed to back it up. Then in 444 00:25:17,600 --> 00:25:20,520 Speaker 1: two thousand eight, another piece of evidence emerged, and that 445 00:25:20,600 --> 00:25:24,800 Speaker 1: year a man named Francesco Fasani called into the Italian 446 00:25:24,840 --> 00:25:27,840 Speaker 1: news program who has seen it? And he claimed to 447 00:25:27,920 --> 00:25:31,320 Speaker 1: have a photo of etter A Mayorana, although he knew 448 00:25:31,400 --> 00:25:34,600 Speaker 1: him as Mr Beanie, and Fasani said that the man 449 00:25:34,640 --> 00:25:37,679 Speaker 1: that he met in Venezuela in NINETI was in his 450 00:25:37,800 --> 00:25:42,040 Speaker 1: fifties and was very shy. And refined in his manners 451 00:25:42,080 --> 00:25:43,800 Speaker 1: so that all seemed to line up with the man 452 00:25:43,880 --> 00:25:46,080 Speaker 1: that people knew as a Mayanana. He was about the 453 00:25:46,160 --> 00:25:48,240 Speaker 1: right age that he would have been, and the shy 454 00:25:48,520 --> 00:25:52,560 Speaker 1: refinement was also something people associated with him, and based 455 00:25:52,560 --> 00:25:55,360 Speaker 1: on this information, this case was actually reopened in Rome 456 00:25:55,480 --> 00:25:58,960 Speaker 1: in two and the photo was submitted to the authorities 457 00:25:59,000 --> 00:26:02,520 Speaker 1: and analyzed, and it was determined that ten points of 458 00:26:02,520 --> 00:26:06,040 Speaker 1: facial identification in the photo coincided with those of a 459 00:26:06,119 --> 00:26:09,399 Speaker 1: known photo of Mayorana, and it was also determined that 460 00:26:09,440 --> 00:26:13,840 Speaker 1: he had significant hereditary compatibility with photos of his father, Fabio, 461 00:26:13,920 --> 00:26:15,840 Speaker 1: who he looked very much like, so they used a 462 00:26:16,320 --> 00:26:19,639 Speaker 1: picture of his father as an elder version to compare 463 00:26:19,680 --> 00:26:24,639 Speaker 1: it to. In early the Rome public Prosecutor closed the case, 464 00:26:24,720 --> 00:26:28,679 Speaker 1: having concluded that Majorana had indeed lived in Venezuela in 465 00:26:28,680 --> 00:26:32,080 Speaker 1: the nineteen fifties, having gone there apparently of his own will, 466 00:26:32,280 --> 00:26:36,120 Speaker 1: and thus there was neither suicide nor homicide to investigate. 467 00:26:36,680 --> 00:26:41,600 Speaker 1: That ruling hasn't been accepted by everyone, though, including Antonio Zikiki, 468 00:26:41,600 --> 00:26:44,560 Speaker 1: the president of the Edi A Maiorana Foundation and Center 469 00:26:44,600 --> 00:26:47,560 Speaker 1: for Scientific Culture. He really stands by the belief that 470 00:26:47,600 --> 00:26:50,639 Speaker 1: Maiorana had a religious crisis and spent the rest of 471 00:26:50,680 --> 00:26:54,040 Speaker 1: his days in a convent or a monastery. In any case, 472 00:26:54,400 --> 00:26:57,159 Speaker 1: even if the ruling of the Roman Public Prosecutor is 473 00:26:57,200 --> 00:27:01,320 Speaker 1: accurate in its assessment, there are still so many unanswered questions. 474 00:27:02,040 --> 00:27:04,680 Speaker 1: Mayorna's motives for dropping out of his life are still 475 00:27:04,720 --> 00:27:08,120 Speaker 1: a matter of pure speculation, and how his life ultimately 476 00:27:08,240 --> 00:27:12,320 Speaker 1: ended remains a complete mystery. Faremy once described Myerana to 477 00:27:12,480 --> 00:27:17,359 Speaker 1: Italian physicist Giuseppa Coconi quote, because you see, in the 478 00:27:17,400 --> 00:27:20,919 Speaker 1: world there are various categories of scientists, people of second 479 00:27:20,960 --> 00:27:23,040 Speaker 1: and third rank who do their best but do not 480 00:27:23,160 --> 00:27:25,920 Speaker 1: go very far. There are also people of the first 481 00:27:26,000 --> 00:27:29,080 Speaker 1: rank who make discoveries of great importance that are fundamental 482 00:27:29,160 --> 00:27:31,560 Speaker 1: for the development of science. But then there are the 483 00:27:31,680 --> 00:27:36,359 Speaker 1: geniuses like Galileo and Newton. Well E was one of these. 484 00:27:36,840 --> 00:27:39,320 Speaker 1: Myrna had what no one else in the world has, 485 00:27:39,359 --> 00:27:42,960 Speaker 1: but unfortunately he lacked what is instead common in other men, 486 00:27:43,560 --> 00:27:47,040 Speaker 1: plain good sense. And I should point out that that quote, 487 00:27:47,040 --> 00:27:51,320 Speaker 1: which gets used a lot in discussion of is not 488 00:27:51,440 --> 00:27:54,920 Speaker 1: actually something directly quoted. Uh. Most of the time people 489 00:27:54,920 --> 00:27:58,719 Speaker 1: are actually quoting cocons relay of that information. So just 490 00:27:58,760 --> 00:28:01,480 Speaker 1: in case you look it up in your Hey, Uh, 491 00:28:01,520 --> 00:28:04,719 Speaker 1: that's what's up. I'm so fascinated Byana, as I know 492 00:28:04,800 --> 00:28:07,399 Speaker 1: a lot of people are. Again, this always comes up 493 00:28:07,440 --> 00:28:12,840 Speaker 1: anytime someone prematurely either dies or decides to completely check 494 00:28:12,880 --> 00:28:16,000 Speaker 1: out of life, as he seems to have done. Um, 495 00:28:16,040 --> 00:28:18,280 Speaker 1: there was so much amazing stuff he could have done 496 00:28:18,280 --> 00:28:22,840 Speaker 1: and achieved, but uh, we don't. We'll never know. Just 497 00:28:22,960 --> 00:28:26,320 Speaker 1: sort of sad um. And you know, no one ever 498 00:28:26,359 --> 00:28:27,919 Speaker 1: knows what might be going on in the mind of 499 00:28:27,960 --> 00:28:31,200 Speaker 1: someone who makes choices like that, so it is all speculative, 500 00:28:31,240 --> 00:28:33,080 Speaker 1: which I think is part of why people become kind 501 00:28:33,119 --> 00:28:35,400 Speaker 1: of obsessed with his story. I have a way more 502 00:28:35,480 --> 00:28:39,800 Speaker 1: upbeat listener mail. Great. This is from our listener Kyle, 503 00:28:40,240 --> 00:28:42,920 Speaker 1: who knows the key to my heart, which is to 504 00:28:43,120 --> 00:28:46,960 Speaker 1: write about delicious life hacks you can do and also 505 00:28:47,040 --> 00:28:49,560 Speaker 1: put it on a Disney postcard which features the hat 506 00:28:49,560 --> 00:28:55,320 Speaker 1: box ghost. My favorite thing in the Honey Mansion. Yeah, 507 00:28:55,360 --> 00:28:57,760 Speaker 1: it's so cute. I'm keeping this one forever, he writes, 508 00:28:57,800 --> 00:29:00,760 Speaker 1: Holly and Tracy. He was after hering for my wife, 509 00:29:00,880 --> 00:29:04,280 Speaker 1: daughter and son in the Princess Half Marathon. I enjoyed 510 00:29:04,360 --> 00:29:07,520 Speaker 1: the former podcast subject Onna Mansion. One. Congratulations to your 511 00:29:07,560 --> 00:29:09,440 Speaker 1: family for running. I've done that race many times and 512 00:29:09,480 --> 00:29:11,360 Speaker 1: have loved it. I hope they had a great time. 513 00:29:12,000 --> 00:29:13,960 Speaker 1: And then Kyle goes on to say I wanted to 514 00:29:14,000 --> 00:29:16,600 Speaker 1: add to your podcast on the history of vodka. I 515 00:29:16,800 --> 00:29:19,760 Speaker 1: use vodka and saltzer water instead of water in my 516 00:29:19,880 --> 00:29:23,760 Speaker 1: fried batter. With the lower evaporation point. Tempura comes out 517 00:29:23,840 --> 00:29:27,400 Speaker 1: extra crispy, yum. My daughter, Amy, and I love your show. 518 00:29:27,840 --> 00:29:30,560 Speaker 1: I am. I think it, says a through hiker Um 519 00:29:30,600 --> 00:29:32,400 Speaker 1: because this is one of those cases where a postcard 520 00:29:32,440 --> 00:29:35,680 Speaker 1: got a little bit obscured by postal markings. And he 521 00:29:35,720 --> 00:29:37,520 Speaker 1: says he has listened to them to all of the 522 00:29:37,520 --> 00:29:40,840 Speaker 1: episodes since the beginning, and keep up the good work, Kyle. Kyle, 523 00:29:41,200 --> 00:29:43,440 Speaker 1: I love this tip. I'm gonna use it and see 524 00:29:43,480 --> 00:29:47,440 Speaker 1: how it worked. Wonderful. Yeah, We've gotten lots of good 525 00:29:47,640 --> 00:29:51,760 Speaker 1: um uh little notes about vodka, some more from from 526 00:29:51,840 --> 00:29:54,880 Speaker 1: veterinary offices and people who work in medicine, but this 527 00:29:54,920 --> 00:29:56,800 Speaker 1: one I wanted to read because it's like a tip 528 00:29:56,840 --> 00:29:59,560 Speaker 1: anyone can use and it sounds fun and delicious. So 529 00:30:00,640 --> 00:30:03,240 Speaker 1: so if you're making tempura, use Kyle's thing. I'm gonna 530 00:30:03,240 --> 00:30:06,479 Speaker 1: presume that his mix is like a fifty fifty on 531 00:30:06,760 --> 00:30:09,680 Speaker 1: vodka and salt water. Um, and just substitute that for 532 00:30:09,720 --> 00:30:12,320 Speaker 1: your water and your fried batter. That sounds phenomenal. I'm 533 00:30:12,360 --> 00:30:14,280 Speaker 1: in Uh. If you would like to write to us, 534 00:30:14,320 --> 00:30:16,440 Speaker 1: you can do so at History podcast at how stuff 535 00:30:16,440 --> 00:30:19,400 Speaker 1: works dot com. We're also everywhere on social media as 536 00:30:19,480 --> 00:30:22,720 Speaker 1: missed in History, and you can visit our website missed 537 00:30:22,720 --> 00:30:24,800 Speaker 1: in History dot com to see every episode of the 538 00:30:24,800 --> 00:30:27,320 Speaker 1: show that has ever existed, all put together in one 539 00:30:27,320 --> 00:30:30,280 Speaker 1: place for your listening pleasure. UH. If you would like 540 00:30:30,280 --> 00:30:32,320 Speaker 1: to subscribe to the show, that sounds like a fabulous 541 00:30:32,360 --> 00:30:34,480 Speaker 1: idea in my opinion, you can do that on the 542 00:30:34,480 --> 00:30:38,040 Speaker 1: I Heart Radio app, on Apple Podcasts, or wherever else 543 00:30:38,080 --> 00:30:45,440 Speaker 1: you get your podcasts. 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