Events

Seminar of the Institute of Theoretical Physics of University of Wrocław

How quantum physics democratized music: a meditation on physics and technology

Prof. Michael Berry

H H Wills Physics Laboratory, University of Bristol, UK

Connections between physics and technological invention and aspects of human life that seem far from science are both unexpected and unexpectedly common. And rather than flowing one way - from physics to gadgets - the connections form an intricate web, linking all aspects of human culture, in a way that frustrates our convenient compartmentalisations and coarse interventions aimed at promoting technology transfer. I will discuss this theme not abstractly but with examples, ranging from music to the colour of gold, and explain how quantum physics helps me do quantum physics (sic).