Skip to content
You are not logged in |Login  
     
Limit search to available items
Record:   Prev Next
Resources
More Information
Bestseller
BestsellerE-book
Author Martin, Joseph D., author.

Title Solid state insurrection : how the science of substance made American physics matter / Joseph D. Martin.

Publication Info. Pittsburgh, Pa. : University of Pittsburgh Press, [2018]

Item Status

Description 1 online resource
Physical Medium polychrome
Description text file
Series Book collections on Project MUSE.
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references and index.
Contents The Pure Science Ideal and Its Malcontents -- How Physics Became "What Physicists Do" -- Balkanizing Physics -- The Publication Problem -- Big Solid State Physics at the National Magnet Laboratory -- Solid State and Materials Science -- Responses to the Reductionist Worldview -- Becoming Condensed Matter Physics -- Mobilizing against Megascience.
Summary Solid state physics--the study of the physical properties of solid matter--was far and away the most populous subfield of Cold War American physics. But despite prolific contributions to consumer and medical technology, such as the transistor and magnetic resonance imaging, it garnered much less professional prestige and public attention than nuclear and particle physics. Solid State Insurrection argues that solid state physics was nonetheless essential to securing the vast social, political, and financial capital Cold War physics enjoyed. Solid state's technological bent, and its challenge to the "pure science" ideal many physicists cherished, helped physics as a whole respond more readily to Cold War social, political, and economic pressures. Solid state research kept physics economically and technologically relevant, sustaining its lofty cultural standing and policy influence long after the sheen of the Manhattan Project had faded. By placing solid state at the center of the story of twentieth century science, this book brings a new perspective to some of the most enduring questions about the role of physics in American history.
Local Note eBooks on EBSCOhost EBSCO eBook Subscription Academic Collection - North America
Subject Solid state physics -- History.
Solid state physics.
History.
Physics -- Research -- United States -- History.
Physics -- Research.
United States.
Genre/Form Electronic books.
History.
Other Form: Print version: 082294538X 9780822945383 (OCoLC)1032018751
ISBN 9780822986294 electronic book
0822986299 electronic book
082294538X
9780822945383