Q4 biography

Riccardo Giacconi was born in Genoa, Italy in 1931. He lived in Milano until the age of 24. His parents separated when he was eight years old. During the bombings of Milano during WWII, he was sent to live with his two aunts, where he discovered a love for reading. His schooling was erratic, and he was a troublemaker in his elementary days, but he eventually went directly from high school to the University of Milan and got a Phd in physics in only four years. He loved research, not lectures, and his thesis was about proton reactions in a cloud chamber. He then moved to America in 1956 to study with R.W. Thompson. After two years, he left Thompson and went to Princeton University to study mesons. After his fellowship ended, he went to American Science and Engineering to work as part of a 28 man team. At AS&E he worked on x-ray astronomy. In 1973 he decided that he loved astronomy. He became the first director of the Space Telescope Science Institute and made plans to open Hubble to amateur astronomers. He is still alive today.