Solid State Insurrection

How the Science of Substance Made American Physics Matter

Joseph D. Martin

• Publisher: University of Pittsburgh Press
• Year: 2018
• eBook ISBN:
  9780822986294
• Topic: Physical Sciences
• Subtopic: Science History

Solid state physics, the study of the physical properties of solid matter, was the most populous subfield of Cold War American physics. Despite prolific contributions to consumer and medical technology, such as the transistor and magnetic resonance imaging, it garnered less professional prestige and public attention than nuclear and particle physics.
Solid State Insurrection argues that solid state physics was essential to securing the vast social, political, and financial capital Cold War physics enjoyed in the twentieth century. 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. Its research kept physics economically and technologically relevant, sustaining its cultural standing and policy influence long after the sheen of the Manhattan Project had faded. With this book, Joseph D. Martin brings a new perspective to some of the most enduring questions about the role of physics in American history.

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• Acknowledgments
• List of Abbreviations
• Introduction. What Is Solid State Physics and Why Does It Matter?
• 1. The Pure Science Ideal and Its Malcontents
• 2. How Physics Became “What Physicists Do”
• 3. Balkanizing Physics
• 4. The Publication Problem
• 5. Big Solid State Physics at the National Magnet Laboratory
• 6. Solid State and Materials Science
• 7. Responses to the Reductionist Worldview
• 8. Becoming Condensed Matter Physics
• 9. Mobilizing against Megascience
• Conclusions
• Notes
• Bibliography
• Index