By Nancy Szokan

In 1927, the University of Rome's physics department was housed in a spacious villa on Via Panisperna, a road that wound up one of the Italian capital's famous seven hills. There, a close-knit cadre of young physicists worked together, played together and called themselves the Boys of Via Panisperna.

Everyone had a nickname — one was Fanciulletto, meaning "young boy," because of his cherubic good looks; another, who was a particularly tough critic of scientific research, was Il Gran Inquisitore, or the Grand Inquisitor. And 26-year-old Enrico Fermi, a professor of theoretical physics, was Il Papa — the Pope — because he seemed to be infallible.

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Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/