Some Views on the Einstein Year, Condensed Matter Physics Nanoscience, and Superconductivity 

During the “World Year of Physics” in 2005, we celebrated the centennial anniversary of Einstein’s great accomplishments and generally promoted and celebrated physics. Some of the activities related to the WYP are ongoing. I would like to share a few observations about the WYP and Einstein including some comments on his contributions to what is now condensed matter physics.  I’ll then go on to a brief discussion of reductionism and emergence in relation to condensed matter physics using examples from research on the ground- and excited-state properties of solids.  Finally, I’ll focus on a few recent developments in nanoscience and superconductivity that my Berkeley colleagues and I have contributed to.