The history of science is filled with questions about the nature of matter, its constituent elements, how properties emerge from the elements’ arrangements, and how the arrangements can guide or be guided by energy flows. The answers to those questions have progressed from philosophical proposals of atomic theory to practical demonstrations of atoms’ existence to modern quantum theory. And, importantly, the answers have been based on experimental measurements.
Recently, electron-microscopy techniques have given resounding answers to such questions as the following: Can we see atoms? What do they do? How do their interactions give rise to properties, forms, and functions? The fields of condensed-matter physics and materials science are now transitioning toward more directly practical goals—namely, understanding why atoms do what they do and controlling their behavior.
To read more, click here.