One hundred years ago, in February 1926, a very young Enrico Fermi presented his study “On the quantization of the perfect monatomic gas” to the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei, a revolutionary work that marked the birth of statistical physics governing the fundamental components of matter: fermions. To honor this century of Italian scientific excellence, the Academy celebrated the anniversary today with a major philatelic event: the issue of an ordinary postage stamp dedicated to Enrico Fermi, belonging to the thematic series “The excellence of Italian cultural heritage,” accompanied by a special cancellation at the Lincei headquarters.
The celebration was held in the hall of Physical Sciences, where Fermi first presented his theory in 1926. The special stamp created for the occasion serves to historicize the indissoluble link between the Lincean headquarters and the universal legacy of the Italian scientist. Massimo Inguscio, Lincean physicist and organizer of the event, wanted to emphasize how this celebration not only looks to the past, but also highlights a century of technological progress that continues to propel us toward the future. According to Inguscio, that theory, conceived by a 24-year-old Fermi, represented the key to solid-state physics and enabled the development of fundamental innovations such as lasers and semiconductor physics.
Celebrating this centenary today means recognizing the relevance of research that, a century later, remains the driving force behind the most advanced technologies. As also recalled by Lincei members Carlo Di Castro, Sandro Stringari, and Giorgio Parisi, Fermi's foundations led to photovoltaic panels, new frontiers in quantum computing, and nuclear fusion technologies, confirming the importance of that theoretical intuition for contemporary society and for developments in quantum physics applied to modern supercomputers.