Boltzmann honored on death centenary

This month, which marks the 100th anniversary of his death, the Austrian physicist and mathematician Ludwig Boltzmann is being honored with a commemorative plaque in Duino, Italy. The plaque is to hang in the hotel—now a college—where Boltzmann committed suicide on 5 September 1906 while on vacation with his family.

The plaque is the doing of the International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) in nearby Trieste and its director, Katepalli Sreenivasan. “We are the physics center in the vicinity,” he says. “And Boltzmann had a tremendous impact on me personally.” Sreenivasan recalls being about 19 years old when he first learned about Boltzmann: “He had to struggle for recognition. He killed himself at least partly because he couldn’t come to terms with the criticism of his work. I resolved that I would never allow the criticism of my work to destroy my creativity.”

A ceremony at the plaque hanging includes talks by physicists and local dignitaries. ICTP is also hosting an exhibition about Boltzmann’s life and work.