Thursday 27 November 2025 at 5 pm, for the cycle "Please Don't Delete: Math Dialogues", Prof. Paolo Zellini (Università degli Studi di Roma “Tor Vergata”) will give a talk titled From infinity to actual computation.
Abstract: In the last century, the development of automatic computation and the importance of research into the nature of actual procedures for solving large-scale problems were a consequence of the philosophy of infinity at the end of the 19th century, and of previous philosophical orientations that had matured, especially in France, on the possible encounter between spiritualism and positivism. Among the consequences of this historical juncture are today's theoretical and practical research on computational efficiency, particularly concerning matrix computation, which is also crucial for machine learning strategies on neural networks.
The meeting will take place at the University Library Headquarters - U6 Building Agorà (Piazza dell'Ateneo Nuovo 1, Milan) University of Milano-Bicocca and will be introduced by Prof. Gianmario Tessitore, Director of the Department.
An apero will follow.
Registration is mandatory, please fill in the form. The event has a limit of 50 participants, beyond which registration will be closed. Those who are not registered will not be allowed to participate.
Speaker Biography
Paolo Zellini is an Italian mathematician and essayist, one of the most original voices in contemporary thinking on the meaning of mathematics. Born in Rome in 1946 and graduating in Mathematics at the Università di Roma La Sapienza, he has carried out research in various Italian and international locations, including Rome, Pisa and the United States. During his career, he has taught at the Universities of Pisa, Udine and finally Rome Tor Vergata, where he is now emeritus professor of numerical analysis.
His scientific contributions concern numerical linear algebra, matrix theory, algorithm complexity and numerical optimisation. Alongside these interests, he has carried out in-depth reflection on the very meaning of mathematical research, placing it in a broader historical and philosophical perspective, attentive to the evolution of ideas.
In his best-known essays, such as Brief History of Infinity and The Mathematics of the Gods and the Algorithms of Men, Zellini has investigated the evolution of mathematical thinking through the concept of infinity and the notion of number, approaching these issues with a perspective that spans not only the history of mathematics but the history of thinking as a whole, even outside the western tradition. In this intellectual path, he recognised the decisive influence of the work of Elémire Zolla.
He is one of the founders of an interdepartmental centre for the study of ancient thinking at the Università di Roma Tor Vergata and regularly collaborates with the cultural pages of various national newspapers. His work combines scientific rigour and philosophical depth in a continuous dialogue between science and humanistic tradition.
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