Abstract:
This lecture will narrate the strange space-time odyssey of a carrot, beginning in 1888 at the German University of Prague in the Czech Republic and completing in 1968 on the ground floor of Rockefeller Center in New York–USA. RCA revealed there a breakthrough in the field of liquid crystal research to sixty reporters and displayed prototypes of flat screens for pictures and moving images. Thus began the worldwide information-display industry's change. A cast of scientists took part in the debate, and they will come to testify during this lecture: the path that led to the recognition of new states of matter was long and painful. Finally, liquid crystals changed our perception of matter by shattering the "three-state" paradigm.
About the Speaker:
Michel Mitov obtained his PhD in condensed matter physics from the University of Nice–France. He is Director of research at the CNRS, the French National Centre for Scientific Research. His current interests include the design and optics of twisted liquid crystals, along with biomimetic versions inspired by insect carapaces. He is the inventor of patents for smart windows that manage solar light and temperature. He wrote an essay of science popularization called “Sensitive Matter: Foams, Gels, Liquid Crystals and Other Miracles” about soft matter.