Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Getting Violent over Glass

The New York Times has a decent article on some of the latest research on the glassy state. It's more than the old does-glass-flow arguements and hints at some of the difficulties.

What I really liked is that it captures the intensity of the argument, or more properly, the people involved. Only twice in my life have I ever seen a technical argument get to the point where I thought fists would fly - both times have been over the glass transition. And I've heard similar experiences from others. So when the Times article states: 1)"Thirteen years later, scientists still disagree, with some vehemence, about the nature of glass." and 2)“Many people tell me this is very contentious. I disagree violently with them.” (emphasis added), I can tell the author got it right.

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