chemistry

Vincenzo Balzani

Vincenzo Balzani is a chemistry topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Vincenzo Balzani rather than just read about it. In short: Vincenzo Balzani (born 15 November 1936 in Forlimpopoli, Italy) is an Italian chemist, now emeritus professor at the University of Bologna. Career He has spent most of his professional life at the "Giacomo Ciamician" Department of Chemistry of the University of Bologna, becoming full professor in 1973.

Key takeaways

Vincenzo Balzani belongs to chemistry; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Vincenzo Balzani to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Vincenzo Balzani from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Vincenzo Balzani (born 15 November 1936 in Forlimpopoli, Italy) is an Italian chemist, now emeritus professor at the University of Bologna.

Career He has spent most of his professional life at the "Giacomo Ciamician" Department of Chemistry of the University of Bologna, becoming full professor in 1973. He has been appointed emeritus professor on November 1, 2010.

Teaching activity He taught courses on General and Inorganic Chemistry, Photochemistry, Supramolecular chemistry. He was chairman of the PhD course on Chemical Sciences from 2002 to 2007 and of the "laurea specialistica" in Photochemistry and Material Chemistry from 2004 to 2007. In the Academic Year 2008–2009, he founded at the University of Bologna an interdisciplinary course on Science and Society.

Scientific activity He has carried out an intense scientific activity in the fields of photochemistry, photophysics, electron transfer reactions, supramolecular chemistry, nanotechnology, machines and devices at the molecular level, photochemical conversion of solar energy. With its 650 publications cited more than 64,000 times in the scientific literature (H index 119), he is one of the best known chemists in the world. He is author or co-author of texts for researchers in English, some translated into Chinese and Japanese, which are currently adopted in universities in many countries. A few of the most significant texts are: Photochemistry of Coordination Compounds (1970), Supramolecular Photochemistry (1991), Molecular Devices and Machines - Concepts and Perspectives for the Nanoworld (2008), Energy for a Sustainable World (2011), Photochemistry and Photophysics: Concepts, Research, Applications (2014).

Public education activity For many years, alongside scientific research, he has carried out an intense dissemination activity, also on the relationship between science and society and between science and peace, with particular reference to energy and resource issues. He is convinced that scientists have a great responsibility that derives from their knowledge and therefore it is their duty to actively contribute to solving the problems of humanity, particularly those connected to the current energy-climate crisis. Every year he holds dozens of seminars in primary or secondary schools and public conferences to illustrate to students and citizens the problems created by the use of fossil fuels: climate change, ecological unsustainability and the social unease deriving from growing inequalities. He believes that three transitions are necessary: from fossil fuels to renewable energies, from the linear economy to the circular economy and from consumerism to sobriety. On these themes he is coauthor of books much appreciated by students and teachers of secondary schools: Chimica (2000); Energia oggi e domani: Prospettive, sfide, speranze (2004); Energia per l'astronave Terra (2017), whose first edition (2007) won the Galileo award for scientific dissemination; Chimica! Leggere e scrivere il libro della natura (2012), English version: Chemistry! Reading and writing the book of Nature (2014); Energia, risorse, ambiente (2014); Le macchine molecolari (2018), finalist in the National Award for Scientific Dissemination Giancarlo Dosi.

Other activities Visiting professor: University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada 1972; Energy Research Center, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel, 1979; University of Strasbourg, France, 1990; University of Leuven, Belgium, 1991; University of Bordeaux, France, 1994. Chairman: Gruppo Italiano di Fotochimica (1982–1986), European Photochemistry Association (1988–92); XII IUPAC Symposium on Photochemistry (1988); International Symposium on "Photochemistry and Photophysics of Coordination Compounds (since 1989, now Honorary Chairman); PhD course in Chemistry Sciences (2002–2007) e Laurea specialistica in Photochemistry and Chemistry of Materials (2004–2007), University of Bologna. Director: Institute of Photochemistry and High Energy Radiations (FRAE), National Research Council (Italy), Bologna (1977–1988) and Center for the Photochemical Conversion of Solar Energy, University of Bologna (1981–1998). Member of the Scientific Committee of several international scientific journals. Member of the Scientific Committee of the Urban Plan for Sustainable Mobility (PUMS), of the Bologna metropolitan area (2008–). Political activity: In 2009 he started the Science and Society interdisciplinary course at the University of Bologna with the aim of bridging the gap between University and City; it has long been hoping for the strengthening of similar initiatives for the cultural growth of the Metropolitan City. In 2014 he founded the Energia per l'Italia group,[2] formed by 22 professors and researchers of the university and of the most important research centers of Bologna, with the aim of offering the Government and local politicians guidelines to tackle the energy problem according to a broad perspective that includes scientific, social, environmental and cultural aspects. Coordinator and editor: Supramolecular Photochemistry, NATO ASI Series n. 214, Reidel, Dordrecht (1987); Supramolecular Chemistry, NATO ASI Series n. 371, Reidel, Dordrecht (1992) (with L. De Cola); Guest Editor, Supramolecular Photochemistry, New J. Chem., N.7–8, vol. 20 (1996); Editor in chief of the Handbook on Electron Transfer in Chemistry, in five volumes, Wiley-VCH, Weinheim (2001); Topics in Current Chemistry, volumes 280 and 281 on Photochemistry and Photophysics of Coordination Compounds (2007).

Associations and academies He is a member of: Società Chimica Italiana; Accademia delle Scienze di Bologna; Accademia delle Scienze di Torino; Società Nazionale di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti in Napoli; Accademia Nazionale delle Scienze detta dei XL; Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei; European Photochemistry Association; ChemPubSoc Europe; Academia Europaea; European Academy of Sciences, European Academy of Sciences and Arts; American Association for the Advancement of Science.

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Vincenzo Balzani

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Vincenzo Balzani claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In chemistry, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Vincenzo Balzani before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Vincenzo Balzani ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Vincenzo Balzani

In research: Vincenzo Balzani appears in chemistry research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Vincenzo Balzani in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Vincenzo Balzani is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1936 births, 20th-century Italian chemists, Academic staff of the University of Bologna, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Vincenzo Balzani outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Vincenzo Balzani in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Vincenzo Balzani means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Vincenzo Balzani out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Vincenzo Balzani in simple terms?

Vincenzo Balzani (born 15 November 1936 in Forlimpopoli, Italy) is an Italian chemist, now emeritus professor at the University of Bologna. Career He has spent most of his professional life at the "Giacomo Ciamician" Department of Chemistry of the University of Bologna, becoming full professor in 1…

Why does Vincenzo Balzani matter?

Because it connects several chemistry ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Vincenzo Balzani?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Vincenzo Balzani.