The World Year of Physics, Einstein, Nanoscience, and International Competition

The year 2005 was chosen to be the international world year of physics. The goals were to celebrate the contributions of physics and to increase public awareness of the nature and benefits of physics.

2005 was chosen because it was the one hundredth anniversary of the miraculous year when Einstein made his incredible contributions to physics. I’ll report on some activities connected with the celebrations, and I’ll discuss Einstein’s 1905 achievements and his influence on modern fields like nanoscience.

In the remainder of my talk, I’ll cover some recent results in nanoscience, superconductivity, and I’ll discuss a report on international competition.

Presenter(s)

Marvin L. Cohen was born in Montreal and moved to San Francisco when he was 12 years old. He was an undergraduate at the University of California at Berkeley and completed graduate studies at the University of Chicago in 1963 (Ph.D. 1964). After a one year postdoctoral position with the Theory Group at Bell Laboratories (1963–64), he joined the Berkeley Physics Faculty. He became University Professor in1995. He has also been a Senior Faculty Scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory since 1965.

Cohen's current and past research covers a broad spectrum of subjects in theoretical condensed matter physics. He is best known for his work with pseudopotentials with applications to electronic, optical, and structural properties of materials, superconductivity, semiconductor physics, and nanoscience.

Cohen has contributed more than 680 technical publications. He is a recipient of the National Medal of Science, the APS Oliver E. Buckley Prize for Solid State Physics, the APS Julius Edgar Lilienfeld Prize, and the Foresight Institute Richard P. Feynman Prize in Nanotechnology. He received the Department of Energy Award for Outstanding Accomplishment in Solids State Physics, the DOE Award for Sustained Outstanding Research, the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory Certificate of Merit and Outstanding Performance Award, was Faculty Research Lecturer, University of California, Berkeley and Loeb Lecturer, Harvard University, and was awarded Doctorat Honoris Causa, University of Montreal.

Cohen is a Fellow of the American Physical Society, a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Philosophical Society, and a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

In 2005, Cohen was President of the American Physical Society (APS), an organization representing more than 45,000 physicists in universities, industry and national laboratories. He currently holds the APS Executive Board position of immediate Past President. He has served as a member and then chair of the Executive Council of the Division of Condensed Matter Physics of the APS; as the U.S. representative on the IUPAP Semiconductor Commission; a member of the National Academy of Sciences Government-University Industry Research Roundtable; Member, U.S. Delegation to Bilateral Dialog for Research and Development in the US and Japan; Member, Science Policy Board of the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory and the Science Policy Committee of SLAC. He is a Member of the Governing Board of the American Institute of Physics.

Cohen served on a variety of national and international boards and committees as an advisor and advocate for science education. He was Vice Chair of the NAS-GUIR Working Group on Science and Engineering Talent emphasizing the recruitment of women and minorities. He was a featured speaker for the Electron Birthday Project (televised to US high schools) and is currently active in lecturing to lay audiences, K-12 students, and industrial groups.