[Pw_forum] a question about the name ESPRESSO

[Stefano Baroni]

PPS: although a bit outdated, "espresso" is actually an adjective. It used to mean "made on purpose" or "made on demand". This is the origin of the expression (note the common root of the words!) "espresso coffee", which is made on demand, rather than filtered and kept hot in a kettle. I think that  it is because of its association with "coffee on demand" that at some pointthe word   "espresso" came to mean "swift", or "quick" (because brewing espresso coffee is much faster than making filter coffee). As a matter of fact, the fastest Italian trains when I was a kid were named "espresso". So, "Quantum ESPRESSO" alludes to a blend of all these meanings: tasty (as good coffee), fashionable (as many Italian goods), user friendly (ready on demand), swift and powerful (as espresso trains), tech savy (as Illy coffee), a bit understating (you don't drink espresso coffee in very elegant cafes, but you can find small coffee places with a great reputation for their espresso), keeping awake/alive (as strong coffee should: please, notice the contrast with "siesta"). SB

On May 4, 2010, at 9:32 PM, Stefano Baroni wrote:

> PS: the one hiding himself behind the camera is Roberto Car
> 
> On May 4, 2010, at 11:50 AM, Nicola Marzari wrote:
> 
>> 
>> 
>> Dear L F Huang,
>> 
>> Trieste (where the code originates) is the main shipping port in Italy 
>> for coffee
>> imports, and the city has a long tradition of coffee houses and of 
>> coffee producers
>> (the beans themselves are grown elsewhere).
>> 
>> The most famous of these companies is "Illy", that is extremely tech savy -
>> this below is an article that the company founder wrote a few years ago 
>> for "Scientific
>> American": http://www.podmerchant.com/coffee/complexity-of-coffee.pdf
>> 
>> What might intrigue you is that we invented the name while waiting in
>> Beijing airport a flight to Xi'an - we were in Beijing for a summer school
>> at the institute of physics (2004), and we decided to spend the weekend in
>> the old capital.
>> 
>> Here is the team at work - I believe Shobhana, Ralph and Carlo are
>> missing, among those that were there :
>> http://quasiamore.mit.edu/personal/xian/espresso.jpg
>> 
>>            nicola
>> 
>> 
>> -- 
>> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
>> Prof Nicola Marzari   Department of Materials Science and Engineering
>> 13-5066   MIT   77 Massachusetts Avenue   Cambridge MA 02139-4307 USA
>> tel 617.4522758 fax 2586534 marzari at mit.edu http://quasiamore.mit.edu 
>> 
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> 
> ---
> Stefano Baroni - SISSA  &  DEMOCRITOS National Simulation Center - Trieste
> http://stefano.baroni.me [+39] 040 3787 406 (tel) -528 (fax) / stefanobaroni (skype)
> 
> La morale est une logique de l'action comme la logique est une morale de la pensée - Jean Piaget
> 
> Please, if possible, don't  send me MS Word or PowerPoint attachments
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> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
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---
Stefano Baroni - SISSA  &  DEMOCRITOS National Simulation Center - Trieste
http://stefano.baroni.me [+39] 040 3787 406 (tel) -528 (fax) / stefanobaroni (skype)

La morale est une logique de l'action comme la logique est une morale de la pensée - Jean Piaget

Please, if possible, don't  send me MS Word or PowerPoint attachments
Why? See:  http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/no-word-attachments.html







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