The Forbidden City—home to the opium-addicted Ming Dynasty emperor and protected by thousands of ruthless eunuchs—no European had ever been inside. Would a simple Jesuit priest be the first? Armed with a homemade clock, a wealth of patience, and an uncompromising drive to share his faith with a new people, […]
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Enrico Fermi
Education: the most valuable gift. A natural-born Italian, Enrico Fermi is best known for facilitating the creation of the atomic bomb. But that was just a small aspect of Fermi’s talents and accomplishments. Fermi was a teacher to the core—anyone who crossed his path learned something from him. With his […]
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From ancient ruins he carved a staircase to his dreams and a style that continues to instill beauty and harmony across the world. In a time when birth and class determined one’s destiny, Andrea Palladio’s father recognized there was nothing common about his son and vowed to nurture his gifts. […]
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If asked to list important inventors, few remember to include Alessandro Volta. Yet, Volta is a household name more spoken than that of Alexander Graham Bell, the Wright Brothers, or even Thomas Edison. That’s because the terms “volt” and “voltage” can be attributed to Volta, the inventor of the “Voltaic […]
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