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Int. J. Heat Mass Transfer.

PergamonVol. 38, No. 14, pp. 2517-2518, 1995
Elsevier Science Ltd
Printed in Great Britain
0017-9310/95 $9.50 + 0.00

0017-9310(95)00042-9
In Memoriam

Professor Mario Silvestri (1919-1994)

On 12 September 1994, the international heat transfer
community lost a great scientific and public figure,
Professor Mario Silvestri, an outstanding personality
as a researcher, educator and historian. His sudden
death has deeply saddened all the people who knew
his matchless humanity and wisdom.
Professor Silvestri was born on 10 June 1919 in
Verona, Italy, and for about 30 years played a very
important role in the Italian energetics policy, serving
as a consultant for the Scientific Research Ministryon energetics matters.
He received his BS and MS degrees in ElectricalEngineering in 19411 at the Polytechnic of Milan, andobtained his Ph.D. degree in Nuclear Engineering in
1954. His brilliant university career proved his great
gift as a teacher and educator. In 1962 he became fullProfessor of Nuclear Power Plants at the Polytechnicof Milan, Italy. Irl 1971 he obtained the chair ofApplied Physics and in 1979 that of Science of Energy.
He was a pioneer, in Italy, of the research into heattransfer and two-phase flow applied to nuclear reactor
thermal-hydraulics. His involvement was from both anexperimental viewpoint (data sets on burnout, heattransfer, pressure drop, void fraction measurements,
development of experimental devices, etc.), giving aremarkable contribution to the experimental work carried out at the CISE (Centre for Information, Studiesand Experiences, near Milan) and at the CNEN Casaccia Laboratories (near Rome), and a theoretical one(e.g. a theoretical contribution to the understanding of

critical heat flux, proposing a correlation, based ona wide data set, which is still reliable for most newexperimental data and presently used world-wide). In1944, he was among the founders of the CISE, thefirst Italian centre for nuclear studies, still conducting
energy research. In 1966, he was among the foundersof the European Two-Phase Flow Group, a meeting of
which is still held regularly every year.
During the 1960s (1962-1970), Professor Silvestri
applied his knowledge of thermal-hydraulics to an
important industrial application, being in charge ofthe design of the CIRENE nuclear reactor (D20-moderated, natural uranium fuelled, two-phase flow natural water cooled), which was completed in 1986 andforestalled by the new orientation of the Italian
government towards nuclear power (PWR option)
before the temporary suppression of the nuclear
power program by the Italian Parliament.
From 1968, Professor Silvestri acquired experiencein the field of geothermal power, where he studied theimportant industrial application of exploiting geothermal power sources through a two-phase gravimetric loop, contributing both theory and full-scaleexperiments.
From 1972 to 1982, Professor Silvestri was thepresident of the Progetto Finalizzato Energetica(Energetics Applied Project) of the C N R (NationalResearch Council).
His recent scientific interest was thermodynamics,
where he concentrated a lot of effort on the study

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G.P. CELATA and M. CUMOof finite time in transformations. He also proposedinteresting definitions of process exergy and plant
exergy for the optimization of energy-saving devices.
Professor Silvestri received many awards in Italy
for his outstanding scientific work, now established infive scientific books and more than 250 papers published in journals and conference proceedings.
The open mind of Professor Silvestri is also documented by his acknowledged reputation as a brilliant
historian of the nineteenth- and twentieth-century his-

tory of Western Europe, and recently of the second
Punic war, publishing seven books.
On behalf of his friends we offer condolences to
his family. The international community will always
remember him for his outstanding scientific and educational achievements, and for his great and modestmind.
G I A N PIERO CELATAM A U R I Z I O CUMO