Solid State Insurrection - by Joseph D Martin (Paperback)

About the Book

A new perspective to some of the most enduring questions about the role of physics in American history.

Book Synopsis

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.

Review Quotes

A detailed reconstruction of the intense struggle . . . for recognition by solid-state physicists against the leadership of the APS.-- "Nature"

For more than half a century, the number of physicists focused on atomic matter in bulk have greatly outnumbered the small priesthood devoted to high-energy physics. In this richly textured and fascinating historical study, Martin charts how solid state physicists plied intellectual pluralism and institutional savvy to become the dominant branch of the American physics community.--David Kaiser

Martin gives us a coherent monograph about the thing in its entirety; solid state physics, at least in its American form, from beginning to end.-- "Physics in Perspective"

About the Author

Joseph D. Martin is associate professor of history of science and technology at the Durham University Department of History.