The Magick of Matter: Crystals, Chaos and the Wizardry of Physics

As heard on BBC Radio 4 Start The Week ‘Felix Flicker brilliantly reveals the secrets behind the modern-day magic we call physics’ Marcus du Sautoy Imagine you had a crystal that lit upon your command: magic must be at work, and you must surely be a wizard. But what if you discovered that you routinely cast such spells? Are the spells no longer magic … or are you a wizard? The modern term for wizardry is condensed matter physics. It is the study of the world around us – the states of matter and how they emerge from the quantum realm. Thanks to its practical magic we can make lasers which cut through solid metal, trains which hover in mid-air, and crystals which light our homes. It is one of the best-kept secrets in science; a third of all physicists work on it, yet its story has never been told. Join Felix Flicker as he introduces the magic of condensed matter physics. It will be a journey that reveals the subtle spells that conjure crystals from chaos and create new particles that have never before existed. The Magick of Matter will revolutionise what you know about physics and reality; you’ll never see the world in the same way again.