Michelle D’urbano
CONDENSED matter is the largest field in physics, employing a third of all researchers. So why is it almost unknown to the wider public? Essentially, for two reasons: it is familiar and it is practical. Neither property is compatible with the sense of magic that draws the public to science, apparent in topics such as black holes or the recent discovery of “the hat”, a shape that tiles only “aperiodically”. But the familiar and practical are inherently magical – theirs is just a more subtle magic. Learning to appreciate it could popularise the subject and draw in a diverse set of condensed matter physicists for …
