International
School "Eduardo R. Caianiello", 10th Course
and
Workshop of the PASCAL Network of
Excellence
The Analysis of Patterns
Centre "Ettore Majorana" for
Scientific Culture, Erice, Italy
October 28 - November 6, 2005
Venue
The "Ettore Majorana" International
Centre for Scientific Culture is named after the italian physicist,
student of Enrico Fermi. Embracing 110 Schools, covering all branches
of Science, the Centre is situated in the old pre-mediaeval city of Erice
where three restored monasteries provide an appropriate setting for high
intellectual endeavour. The School "Eduardo R. Caianiello" is
coordinated by the IIASS (Istituto Internazionale per gli Alti Studi Scientifici)
and is named after the cyberneticist Eduardo
Caianiello.Its focus is on machine learning, artificial intelligence
and neuroscience.
The "Ettore Majorana" Foundation and International Centre for Scientific Culture is named after an outstanding Italian physicist. Born in Sicily in 1906,
ADDRESS
Ettore Majorana Centre
Via Guarnotta, 26
I-91016 ERICE, Italy
Telephone: +39 0923 869133
Telex 910366 ccsem i
Telefax +39.0923.869226
Cable: CCSEM ERICE
Web page: http://www.ccsem.infn.it
E-mail: hq@emcsc.ccsem.infn.it
ABOUT ERICE
According to legend, Erice, the son of Venus and Neptune, founded a small
town on top of a mountain (750 Meters above sea level) more than three
thousand years ago. Thucydides (~500 B.C.) said that the Elymi - the founders
of Erice - were survivors of the destruction of Troy. Ancients historians
agreed that Erice was the oldest city in Europe.
Homer (~1,000 B.C.), Theocritus (~300 B.C.), Polybius (~200 B.C.), Virgil (~50 B.C.), Horace (~20 B.C.) and others have celebrated this magnificent spot in Sicily in their poems. In Erice you can admire the Castle of Venus, the Cyclopean Walls (~800 B.C.) and the Gothic Cathedral (~1300 A.D.). Erice is at present a mixture of ancient and medieval architecture.
Other masterpieces of ancient civilization are to be found in the neighborhood at Motya (Phoenician), Segesta (Elymian) and Selinunte (Greek). On the Aegadian Islands - theater of the decisive naval battle of the first Punic War (264-241 B.C.) - neolithic and paleolithic cave paintings and carvings are still visible in the grottos of Favignana and Levanzo.
Splendid beaches are to be found within about an hour's drive from Erice at San Vito Lo Capo, Scopello and Cornino.