When Matter Reorganizes Itself

Abstract

At Dickinson College, like at so many other colleges and universities, the hallways of the physics building are lined with framed posters put out by the American Physical Society. You may have seen them, too: they showcase, decade by decade, major personal achievements, important general advances in knowledge, and pivotal events in our discipline. Together, they represent something of an arrow of time for physics. Each poster starts with a written paragraph describing in broad strokes what happened in the respective decade, with a big picture of a prominent physicist from that era in the top corners. So each day I walk past the likes of Marie Curie, Albert Einstein, Paul Dirac, and Richard Feynman on my way to the office.