The Science of Surnames · 21-09-2016 · The Science of Surnames First SISSA colloquium of the...
Transcript of The Science of Surnames · 21-09-2016 · The Science of Surnames First SISSA colloquium of the...
TheScienceofSurnames
FirstSISSAcolloquiumoftheseasionwithPaoloRossi(UniversityofPisa)
21September2016,3:00pmSISSA,AulaMagnaViaBonomea265
PaoloRossi,PhysicistattheUniversityofPisa,whoseeclecticinterestsrangefromparticlephysicstotranslatingearlymedievaltexts,willbethefirstspeakerinthisseason’sSISSAcolloquiumseries.Histalkwillfocusonthestudyofsurnamesthroughstatisticalmechanics,ausefulapproachforinvestigatingpopulationgenetics.
Whatdoesdistributionofsurnameshavetodowithresearchinhumanbiologyandstatisticalmechanics?Itmayseemstrange,butscientistshavebeenstudyingsurnamestounderstand
variousaspectsofpopulationgeneticsforcenturies."Itstartedin1875withthepioneeringworkofGeorgeDarwin,Charles’son,whichstudiedmarriagesbetweenfirstcousinswithisonymy(thesamelastname),and,inmorerecenttimes,theanalysisofKingEdwardIIIofEngland’sfamilytreeusingstatisticalmethodsandnumericalsimulation,andtheuseofmoregeneralmodelsforevaluatingsurnamesinagivencountry(KoreaandJapan,forexample),"explainsPaoloRossi,PhysicistattheUniversityofPisa.OnSeptember21,Rossiwillholdthefirsttalkofthe2016-2017seasonoftheSISSAColloquiaseries.Hewillspeakaboutthestudyofsurnamesusingtoolsofstatisticalmechanics.ThetitleofhisspeechisSurnamedistributionandgenealogicaltreesinpopulationgeneticsandinstatisticalphysics."Thedynamicoriginofsurnamedistributionisrelatedtothestatisticalpropertiesoffamilytrees.Wecanstudythedistributionofsurnamesusingstatisticalmechanics,andthusenhanceourunderstandingofthehumanfamilytree."Surnamesbehavealittlelikeneutralgenesthat,whilepartofthegeneticmakeup,donotencodeandarethereforenotsubjecttonaturalselection."Thatiswhytheyaresointeresting,"saysRossi."Theyonlyfollowthelawsofstatistics."“Thisapproach,continuesRossi,“producesaseriesofilluminatingtheoreticalresults.Someofthesehypothesesmayalsobetestedusingempiricaldatawhichisalreadyavailable.ThetalkbyPaoloRossi,tobeheldinEnglish,willtakeplaceintheAulaMagnaoftheSchoolonSeptember21startingat3pm.Itisfreeandopentothepublic.BriefBiographyPaoloRossiisascientistofinternationalcaliberknownforhisconsiderableandvariedinterestsinresearch.DeanoftheFacultyofMathematical,PhysicalandNaturalSciencesattheUniversityofPisa,heisalsoamemberoftheNationalUniversityCouncil(CUN).PastinternationalexperiencesincludeperiodsofworkatMITinBostonandCERNinGeneva,wherehestudiedParticlePhysicsandStatisticalFieldTheory.Hehasauthoredover100scientificarticlesininternationalpeer-reviewedjournalsaswellastextbooksonClassicalandQuantumPhysics.HismostrecentresearchfocusesonapplyingPhysicsmethodsandtheoreticalideastothestudyandmodelingofsocialandculturalphenomenaincludingacademicrecruitmentprocesses.RossiisalsointerestedinthehistoryofscienceandtranslatesItalianearlymedievalchroniclesfromLatintoItalian.Hehaspublishedhistoricalnovelsaswell.
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