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People in physics: Listening to the universe with Amedeo Balbi

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Amedeo Balbi, researcher at the University of Rome “Tor Vergata”, is one of the rare scientists with a gift for explaining his research to a non-expert public. His main field of expertise is the study of the Cosmic Microwave Background, the fossil radiation from the big bang. More recently he became interested in dark energy and the interdisciplinary realm of astrobiology, the scientific study of life outside our planet Earth.

Balbi always had a knack for communicating science. An avid reader of popular science books, he found it quite natural to become a tour guide at Italy’s National Institute for Nuclear Physics in Frascati when he was a student. Off-duty, he never got tired of explaining what he was doing to his friends. He practiced the story of the birth and evolution of the Universe so often that he began to toy with the idea of writing a book about it, with a plot based on the captivating tale of scientists’ quest to map the early Universe using the Cosmic Microwave Background radiation.

“After all,” Balbi muses, “if the Universe had always been the same, cosmology would not be as fascinating as it is.”

Balbi started writing his book in the summer of 2004, while a visit to Fermilab in Illinois provided a break from Rome’s nightlife. But two years later he was still too absorbed by his research to finish. Then in 2006 the Nobel Prize was awarded to George Smoot for his work on the Cosmic Background Explorer Satellite. Balbi had  worked with Smoot on the MAXIMA experiment, and this gave him the push that he needed. Within a few months he had not only finished the book but had also started Keplero, now one of Italy’s top science blogs.

Balbi’s book “The Music of the Big Bang” – available in English - reads like a novel. It tells the story of the Universe we live in, as it has been decoded by cosmologists from the faint footprints left in the Cosmic Microwave Background: the acoustic waves in the CMB are like a music in which scientists have to try and identify the different instruments. The language is simple and direct, although he makes no concessions to inaccuracy in the scientific descriptions. As with all good science communicators and storytellers, Balbi refers the readers to familiar images to help them grasp mind-boggling thoughts. The book does not contain any personal recollections: Balbi’s true interest lies in the tale of science, and not in the anecdotes. Nevertheless, the book is also a great introduction to the job of cosmologists, who can be considered like archaeologists studying the most ancient signal of the big bang with the tools offered by physics and mathematics.

The same clarity of mind, coupled with a dose of humor and extensive pop culture references, is evident in his blog posts (unfortunately Italian-only). When blogging, Balbi first finds a good story to tell, and then finds a smart way to tell it, often with some hidden references to songs, movies, books, or anything that triggers his imagination. And so his readers may find themselves discussing whether “And I feel fine,” the title of a post about the possible dangers of mini-black holes created at the LHC, comes from a Beatles or R.E.M. song (the correct answer was R.E.M.).

Balbi is always looking for the next challenge. Even though his research is now entering an extremely exciting period, as he becomes deeply involved in the analysis of the data sent by the Planck space observatory, he could not resist joining the prestigious crew of bloggers for the online newspaper “Il Post”. Time to brush up on your Italian!