THE DISSEMINATION OF ACOUSTICS IN ITALY HELD BY THE ITALIAN ACOUSTICAL ASSOCIATION SINCE THE LATE 20TH CENTURY

This paper is a brief review of the activities undertaken by the Italian Acoustical Association (AIA) during the past fifty years, covering the main stages of a long journey involving many people. The annual national congress, started in 1973, is the common thread of the AIA's activities, to which many other meetings on specific topics have been added over the years. The publishing activity is built on the AIA's journal "Rivista Italiana di Acustica", founded in 1977, and includes also the proceedings of the AIA's congress and of the other meetings on specific topics. The paper wishes to be not celebratory, but rather a tangible testimony of the efforts made by the AIA's members for the development and progress of acoustics in Italy since the late 20th century and for the cooperation between the Italian acoustic community and the international one. The growing presence of young acousticians in the AIA's initiatives in recent years bodes well for a prolific and successful future.