There is a precise, unique methodological backbone underlying the history and evolution of ISI: information, information and its complexity. Information has progressively affirmed itself as one of the most relevant properties of matter, of nature and of society. It is information that distinguishes between inert and living matter, that allows a molecule to become a code, the carrier of those messages which are at the root of the phylogenic structure of bio-systems. It is information that drives the dynamics of phase transitions as well as those of society, its economy, its processes. Because the huge wealth of data which are nowadays available on all of these diverse phenomena has brought all these disciplines on the same stage, and handling such data means both acquiring new deeper knowledge and control over the underlying systems. But it is also grasping such general features of theirs, as universality and complexity content.
The history of ISI is long and exciting, marked and characterized by a number of crucial steps and visionary men behind them: to begin with, intellectuals such as Carl Kaysen, Thomas Khun and Salva Luria, under the guide of the first President, Tullio Regge.
High-Tc superconductivity, the elusive and somewhat mysterious property of a class of materials which may well contribute to future tremendous progress in the technology of power transmission was the first daring step in this long exploration of complexity: complexity of matter. The push came from dedicated persons like David Campbell and Dyonis Baereswyl. The science of nonlinear dynamical systems comes further: the first signals also in macroscopic systems nonlinearity gives rise to astounding features: deterministic chaos. Here the true inspirer was mostly a superb mathematician: Enrico Bombieri. Then quantum information enters the game; the property of microscopic states of matter to encode information with unprecedented efficiency. A deep trust that is now opening, under the guide of Seth Lloyd, new gateways to understanding crucial properties of living matter. ISI was a sort of cradle for quantum computing, inspired by amazing, prophetic scientists such as Roger Penrose, Charlie Bennett, David Deutsch, Umesh Vazirani.
A further step was the statistical mechanics of computation and the brain, inspired by top leaders in the field, like Scott Kirkpatrick, Chris Barrett and, above all, Joel Cohen and Tommaso Poggio; the true door to a fully established science of complex systems, as inspired by Mitchell Feigenbaum, a process to which the contribution of ISI was an more and more is fundamental on the international scientific arena. The complexity science research group of the Foundation, now led by Alessandro Vespignani, is indeed finally establishing ISI as one of the strongest leading institutions in the field in the country, in Europe, in the world. The spectrum of activities ranges from basic theory to a variety of applications, to a variety of crucial societal problems, from the epidemiology of contagious diseases to the dynamics of social networks, from the emergence of languages to the challenge of handling extremely large data bases.
This is the exciting scientific story of ISI in a nutshell: a long, difficult but beautiful path whose horizon is as unpredictable and challenging, but stimulating and exciting as the exploration of the very frontiers of new science can be.