iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Giovanni Organtini @organtin.bsky.social · 15/06/2026

The T-shirt designed by my daughter has arrived. Go buy it on artiss.shop/collections/decapodii

Giovanni Organtini @organtin.bsky.social · 09/05/2026

Il problema è che poi s'invecchia. Per questo un mio ex direttore di dipartimento diceva che le carriere andrebbero fatte al contrario: quando sei giovane hai più bisogno di soldi e sei più produttivo; quindi dovrebbero pagarti di più di quando sei vecchio.

010

Giovanni Organtini @organtin.bsky.social · 08/05/2026

Capisco il problema (noi siamo stati in quattro per un po'). Comunque poi i figli crescono e se ne vanno.

110

Giovanni Organtini @organtin.bsky.social · 08/05/2026

Dipende dal prezzo. Chi non risica non rosica, ma se si rischia troppo ci si può far male.

110

Giovanni Organtini @organtin.bsky.social · 08/05/2026

Nei giorni scorsi mi è stato chiesto un parere sulla bozza delle Indicazioni Nazionali per quanto riguarda la fisica. Rendo pubblico il mio punto di vista sull'argomento. giovanniorgantini.wordpress.com/2026/05/08/s...

giovanniorgantini.wordpress.com

Sulle nuove indicazioni nazionali

Il Ministero dell’Istruzione ha pubblicato una bozza delle nuove Indicazioni Nazionali per i Licei. In questo articolo ne analizziamo i contenuti.

000

Giovanni Organtini @organtin.bsky.social · 06/05/2026

Un mio contributo sull'uso degli smartphone a scuola. sif.it/riviste/sif/...

sif.it

000

Giovanni Organtini @organtin.bsky.social · 06/05/2026

This year, our students were let to design, build and make their own experiment. Apparently, lot of fun. Will see in two weeks if they also got meaningful data.

000

Giovanni Organtini @organtin.bsky.social · 30/04/2026

In this way, we ‘discover’ the heat balance, for example. Or the Lorentz transformations. Students should not memorise the steps as if they were devised ad hoc to justify the results, but learn to read ‘between the lines’ of the equations.

100

Giovanni Organtini @organtin.bsky.social · 30/04/2026

When we arrive at an answer by solving an equation, we often do so by explaining why we follow those particular steps. There are a few simple rules to follow: avoid square roots, avoid fractions, and move quantities that have something in common to one side of the equation.

110

Giovanni Organtini @organtin.bsky.social · 22/04/2026

Due millantatori, che però sono stati aiutati da tali Andrea Fontana e Luca Zane

110

Giovanni Organtini @organtin.bsky.social · 22/04/2026

The point of view changes, greatly helping the transition to QM, but the physics remains the same. That means that students can take a standard exam, but gain a conceptual advantage over those on traditional courses.

100

Giovanni Organtini @organtin.bsky.social · 22/04/2026

By heating, a system in a thermal state |T〉is transformed into one whose state is |T'〉=O|T〉=|T+∆Q/cm〉via the action of an operator O that incorporates the effect of the interaction, which is here mediated by the heat transfer represented by ∆Q.

110

Giovanni Organtini @organtin.bsky.social · 22/04/2026

The authors of "A Modern Takes on Physics" take the opposite approach to other authors: rather than attempting to describe quantum systems using classical categories, we describe classical systems using the language of modern physics.

110

Giovanni Organtini @organtin.bsky.social · 16/04/2026

That's why ℓ(T)-ℓ₀=Δℓ=𝛼ℓ₀ΔT. Unlike most textbooks, we derive the law of thermal expansion simply from observations, with the help of reasonable arguments. We do not merely "present" it, as if it had been revealed or simply got from laboratory measurements as it stands.

010

Giovanni Organtini @organtin.bsky.social · 16/04/2026

In "A Modern Take on Physics" we note, by an experiment, that the length ℓ of a long bar depends on the temperature T, i.e. ℓ=ℓ(T). We don't know how, but certainly ℓ does not depend too much on T, so, by Taylor expansion, ℓ(T)≃ℓ₀+a(T-T₀)=ℓ₀(1+𝛼ΔT).

130

Giovanni Organtini @organtin.bsky.social · 09/04/2026

Lunedì, presso il rettorato dell'università di Roma TRE, presenterò la mia proposta didattica per un rinnovamento dell'insegnamento della fisica alla conferenza annuale dell'associazione italiana studenti di fisica ai-sf.it/cisf26/

030

Giovanni Organtini @organtin.bsky.social · 08/04/2026

This way, students have more time to get to grips with calculus. The full path is publicly available at @worldscientific's website at www.worldscientific.com/doi/epdf/10....

worldscientific.com

010

Giovanni Organtini @organtin.bsky.social · 08/04/2026

...This is why we introduce the phenomenon of thermal expansion as one of the first physical phenomena addressed: because it is useful for the construction of thermometers. This approach also has the advantage that, when it comes to calorimetry, all you need to know is algebra.

110

Giovanni Organtini @organtin.bsky.social · 08/04/2026

Unlike other authors, our textbook begins by addressing the problem of defining the physical quantity represented by temperature. We demonstrate that our intuitive understanding, based on the sensation of heat, is misleading and that we need an instrument to measure it...

110

Giovanni Organtini @organtin.bsky.social · 01/04/2026

...if experiments reveal phenomena that would be extremely unlikely to be observed were the current interpretation of the world to be true. This process is effectively modeled by the Bayes' Theorem. Check it out on "A Modern Take on Physics".

000

Giovanni Organtini @organtin.bsky.social · 01/04/2026

Our interpretation of the "scientific method", aka the "Nature of Science". Physicists "believe" in what they measure to the extent that the results of their experiments are consistent with their "beliefs". But they are prepared to change their view...

100

Reposted by Giovanni Organtini

The Tennessee Holler @thetnholler.bsky.social · 31/03/2026

📚 “I stand by my decision. I will not change my mind.” RUTHERFORD COUNTY library director LUANNE JAMES 🦸‍♀️ was just fired for refusing to move kids books into the adult section simply because the board doesn’t like what they’re about. Full: www.wkrn.com/news/local-n...

44178882665

Giovanni Organtini @organtin.bsky.social · 27/03/2026

My book "Physics Experiments with @officialarduino.bsky.social and smartphones" is now on sale on the @springernature.com website. Get it for only 12.99 EUR! link.springer.com/book/10.1007...

051

Giovanni Organtini @organtin.bsky.social · 18/03/2026

Only a genius could ‘see’ electromagnetic waves in Maxwell’s original equations, whereas even a student is able to perceive them in Heaviside’s version. That's what mathematical elegance is needed for: to reveal insights that would otherwise remain hidden.

000

Giovanni Organtini @organtin.bsky.social · 18/03/2026

To give an example: Maxwell’s equations bear no resemblance whatsoever to those written by Maxwell himself. The ones we study are the (horrible) Maxwell’s equations rewritten by Oliver Heaviside using the new language invented by Josiah Gibbs.

A page from the Maxwell's Treatise on Electricity and Magnetism

100

Giovanni Organtini @organtin.bsky.social · 17/03/2026

We don’t make equations look nice just for aesthetic reasons, but to bring out their meaning. Check out the @worldscientific.bsky.social website: take advantage of their spring sale till March 31, with a 35% discount. www.worldscientific.com/worldscibook...

worldscientific.com

A Modern Take on Physics

101

Giovanni Organtini @organtin.bsky.social · 17/03/2026

In our “A Modern Take on Physics,” we want to make it clear from the outset that, for us, mathematics is a language. Concise yet highly expressive, like a poem, in which even what is not explicitly written becomes apparent.

Pag. 5 of a textbook with a section titled "The role of math"

Pag. 6 of a textbook, where we compare math to potry

101

Giovanni Organtini @organtin.bsky.social · 14/03/2026

...although it does respect tradition in terms of content. Check it out at @worldscientific.bsky.social website. www.worldscientific.com/worldscibook...

worldscientific.com

A Modern Take on Physics

000

Giovanni Organtini @organtin.bsky.social · 14/03/2026

Our course ‘A Modern Take on Physics’ begins with a summary of the entire textbook. Students appreciate what we teach them much more if they know where we are taking them. Right from the very first pages, it is clear that this is not a conventional course...

110

Giovanni Organtini @organtin.bsky.social · 18/02/2026

Ho l'impressione che possa essere d'interesse per @terminologiaetc.it

110

Giovanni Organtini @organtin.bsky.social · 09/01/2026

New @phyphox.org experiment dropped to www.smartphysicslab.org/resources.html to measure the distance to the Moon. Direct link: github.com/smartphysics.... Enjoy!

smartphysicslab.org

Teaching resources

A list of physics experiments to be done using a smartphone and/or an Arduino board

164

Giovanni Organtini @organtin.bsky.social · 08/10/2025

E già che ci sono ti chiedo se hai visto questa perla

320

Giovanni Organtini @organtin.bsky.social · 08/10/2025

Io invece di tedesco non capisco una mazza e dunque me lo sono goduto tutto (tra l'altro in Germania dove sono stato invitato per fare il codocente di un corso). Bello!

220

Giovanni Organtini @organtin.bsky.social · 30/09/2025

Presumo watth, cioè watt per ore, essendo una capacità della batteria che si può dare in unità di carica (Ah) o di energia (wattora).

110

Reposted by Giovanni Organtini

phyphox project @phyphox.org · 24/09/2025

The smartphone physics challenge, vulgarisation.fr/smartphone-p..., by @julien-bobroff.bsky.social, @organtin.bsky.social, and others:

That’s on me meme:
Jake: “I’m a physicist”
Jess: “Okay, then name 61 ways to measure the height of a building.”
Jake: “With a smartphone?”
Jess: (silently) “That's on me, I set the bar too low.”

1102

Giovanni Organtini @organtin.bsky.social · 17/07/2025

Si riferiva più al sapore che all'odore. Parlava di cose da mangiare. È la sensazione di mangiare qualcosa di non genuino, probabilmente dovuta alla presenza di conservanti o altri additivi. Quando lo dissi a mia moglie (non "madre lingua") disse subito che era vero. Alcune cose sanno di comprato.

110

Giovanni Organtini @organtin.bsky.social · 16/07/2025

Mia nonna diceva che certe cose sapevano di "comprato"

110

Giovanni Organtini @organtin.bsky.social · 16/07/2025

La hostess ha detto che per il nostro conforto è meglio se teniamo le cinture allacciate durante il volo. A @terminologiaetc.it sarebbe venuto uno stranguglione.

110

Giovanni Organtini @organtin.bsky.social · 14/07/2025

scusa, ma ho visto solo ora. A occhio e croce... me pare 'na ca**sta 😜

110

Giovanni Organtini @organtin.bsky.social · 22/06/2025

Qualche idea per uso dello smartphone a fini didattici? Come dite? È vietato? 🤔 youtu.be/gkBeOF3DrDQ?...

youtu.be

The Smartphone Physics Challenge

YouTube video by La Physique Autrement

110

Giovanni Organtini @organtin.bsky.social · 21/06/2025

Caduta libera. Quello che per Einstein era solo un gedankenexperiment ora è realtà. Sistemi di riferimento accelerati. Dinamica a bordo della ISS. Ma il Ministro dice che è vietato.

010

Giovanni Organtini @organtin.bsky.social · 19/06/2025

This will be interesting for anyone who, like me, is passionate about fonts and typefaces.

000

Giovanni Organtini @organtin.bsky.social · 19/06/2025

Sapreste dire in quale albergo di Napoli ho preso i dati?

110

Giovanni Organtini @organtin.bsky.social · 19/06/2025

Accelerazioni in ascensore con @phyphox.org . Ci si fa una quantità innumerevole di esercizi di cinematica, imparando anche a interpretare dati e a leggere grafici. Si capisce la relazione tra accelerazione, velocità e posizione. Ma il Ministro non vuole.

131