What’s in a Name Change?
@article{Martin2015WhatsIA, title={What’s in a Name Change?}, author={Joseph D. Martin}, journal={Physics in Perspective}, year={2015}, volume={17}, pages={3-32} }
When solid state physics emerged in the 1940s, its name was controversial. By the 1970s, some physicists came to prefer “condensed matter” as a way to identify the discipline of physics examining complex matter. Physicists and historians often gloss this transition as a simple rebranding of a problematically named field, but attention to the motives behind these names reveals telling nuances. “Solid state physics” and “condensed matter physics”—along with “materials science,” which also emerged…
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