Occasionally in academia, you meet those rare, brilliant individuals who can seamlessly bridge several scientific disciplines. Prof Leon Cooper was one such person. Known for his New York accent, perfectly groomed hair and fine Italian suits, Cooper was a Nobel Laureate in physics and a maestro of interdisciplinary exploration.
I witnessed his brilliance while at graduate school in 1993. In the elevators of the physics department, he would pose the most probing questions to young researchers.
"Do you really believe in what you're working on?" he'd ask, steering conversations beyond the technical and into philosophical territory. Bonding over our shared love for music, our encounters became a canvas for passionate discussions.
It was during these discussions that I discovered Cooper's profound contributions to an electrical phenomenon called superconductivity.
Essentially, at room temperatures, electric current encounters resistance. But near absolute zero (-273°C), current flows through superconductors with zero resistance. This superconductivity effect could play a pivotal role in the future of clean energy, as well as enable medical and technological innovations.
This story is from the July/August 2024 edition of Very Interesting.
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This story is from the July/August 2024 edition of Very Interesting.
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