Ennio Candotti (12 February 1942 – 6 December 2023) was a Brazilian physicist and scientific leader.
Biography
Born in Rome, Italy, he studied
physics
Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...
at the
University of São Paulo
The Universidade de São Paulo (, USP) is a public research university in the Brazilian state of São Paulo, and the largest public university in Brazil.
The university was founded on 25 January 1934, regrouping already existing schools in ...
, in
São Paulo
São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...
, from 1960 to 1964, and also at the
University of Naples
The University of Naples Federico II (; , ) is a public university, public research university in Naples, Campania, Italy. Established in 1224 and named after its founder, Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor, Frederick II, it is the oldest public, s ...
, in
Naples
Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...
, Italy (1970–71). From 1966 to 1968 he specialized in
theoretical physics
Theoretical physics is a branch of physics that employs mathematical models and abstractions of physical objects and systems to rationalize, explain, and predict List of natural phenomena, natural phenomena. This is in contrast to experimental p ...
at the
University of Pisa
The University of Pisa (, UniPi) is a public university, public research university in Pisa, Italy. Founded in 1343, it is one of the oldest universities in Europe. Together with Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa and Sant'Anna School of Advanced S ...
(
relativity theory
The theory of relativity usually encompasses two interrelated physics theories by Albert Einstein: special relativity and general relativity, proposed and published in 1905 and 1915, respectively. Special relativity applies to all physical phe ...
), in
mathematical physics
Mathematical physics is the development of mathematics, mathematical methods for application to problems in physics. The ''Journal of Mathematical Physics'' defines the field as "the application of mathematics to problems in physics and the de ...
at the
University of Munich
The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich, LMU or LMU Munich; ) is a public university, public research university in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Originally established as the University of Ingolstadt in 1472 by Duke ...
, in
Munich
Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...
, Germany (1968–1969) and in
dynamic systems
In mathematics, a dynamical system is a system in which a function describes the time dependence of a point in an ambient space, such as in a parametric curve. Examples include the mathematical models that describe the swinging of a clock p ...
at the University of Naples again.
From 1974 to 1995, Candotti was a professor with the
Federal University of Rio de Janeiro
The Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (, UFRJ) is a public university, public research university in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is the largest federal university in the country and is one of the Brazilian centers of excellence in teaching and r ...
. He was a professor at the
Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo, in
Vitória, state of
Espírito Santo
Espírito Santo (; ) is a state in southeastern Brazil. Its capital is Vitória, and its largest city is Serra. With an extensive coastline, the state hosts some of the country's main ports, and its beaches are significant tourist attracti ...
. He was naturalized as a Brazilian in 1983.
Candotti was four times president of the Brazilian Society for the Progress of Science (
Sociedade Brasileira para o Progresso da Ciência
Sociedade Brasileira para o Progresso da Ciência (Portuguese for ''Brazilian Society for the Progress of Science'') is a Brazilian scientific society created in 1948 by several prominent scientists, with the aim of promoting science, culture and ...
), the major scientific association in the country, and editor of
Ciência Hoje, its scientific popularization
magazine
A magazine is a periodical literature, periodical publication, print or digital, produced on a regular schedule, that contains any of a variety of subject-oriented textual and visual content (media), content forms. Magazines are generally fin ...
. For his activities in this area, he has received the 1999
Kalinga Prize
The Kalinga Prize for the Popularization of Science is an award given by UNESCO for exceptional skill in popularization of science, presenting scientific ideas to lay people. It was created in 1952, following a donation from Biju Patnaik, Founder ...
conceded by
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...
. He was also the president of the
International Union for Science Communicators, created in 2002 in
Mumbai
Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...
, India. He was also director-general of the Museum of the Amazon (Musa).
Candotti died in Manaus on 6 December 2023, at the age of 81.
Bibliography
#CANDOTTI, E. ; COCHO, G. ; MONTEMAYOR, R. . Thermal Gohost fields and unstable systems. ''Nuovo Cimento Della Societa Italiana di Fisica B - General Physics'', Bologna, v. 106B, p. 13–22, 1990.
#CANDOTTI, E. ; PALMIERI, C. ; VITALE, B. . Universal Noether's nature of infinitesimal transformations in Lorentz covariant field theories. ''Il Nuovo Cimento'', Bologna, v. 7A, p. 271–279, 1972.
#CANDOTTI, E. ; PALMIERI, C. ; VITALE, B. . On the inversion of Noether theorem in classical dynamical systems. ''American Journal of Physics'', USA, v. 40.3, p. 424–427, 1972.
#CANDOTTI, E. ; PALMIERI, C. ; VITALE, B. . On the inversion of Noether Theorem in Lagrangian Formalism. ''Il Nuovo Cimento'', Bologna, v. 70, p. 233–239, 1970.
References
External links
Ennio Candotti's Curriculum Vitae CNPq Lattes System (In Portuguese).
* Interviews with Ennio Candotti at the
Universia Brasil site
2003an
(In Portuguese)
* Creación de Ciencia Ho
*
Interview with Ennio Candotti made in 2023
1942 births
2023 deaths
20th-century Brazilian physicists
Brazilian science writers
University of São Paulo alumni
20th-century Italian physicists
Brazilian people of Italian descent
Kalinga Prize recipients
Academic staff of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro
Expatriate academics in Brazil
21st-century Brazilian physicists
Scientists from Rome
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