Editorial
Milestones in Spin
Nature Milestones are special supplements that aim to highlight the 'milestones' or remarkable achievements in a given field. Each breakthrough is covered in a short Milestone article, written by editors from the Nature Publishing Group, which discusses landmark discoveries in the context of the prevailing concepts at the time and our current knowledge of the field.
Milestones in Spin − the sixth supplement in the series and the first in the physical sciences − presents key developments in the story of 'spin'. Spin describes the intrinsic angular momentum of elementary particles, a concept developed in the mid-1920s as physicists sought to explain experimental observations made decades earlier. Since then, the idea of spin has inspired major advances in physics, and has found practical application in chemistry, biology and technology.
For a topic as broad as 'spin', it is impossible to do justice to all of the influential developments. With the help of our advisors, we have selected 23 topics, highlighting where spin has taken us so far and providing a taste of what developments might be expected in the future. We have sought, in particular, to bring out the breadth of areas that are touched by spin: from the foundation of quantum physics, to analytical chemistry and structural biology, to cognitive neuroscience and information-storage technology. Many more topics remain unmentioned: the polarization of light, the discovery and explanation of the allotropic forms of hydrogen, solid-state NMR, colossal magnetoresistance, spin qubits, spin-torque phenomena − to name but a few. But a selection had to be made, and we hope that Milestones in Spin will prove an enriching reflection on the history of the field, and one that inspires further reading.
Scientific discoveries are not, for the most part, achieved in single discrete steps. Rather they involve the work of many, and the fusion of ideas, concepts and experimental evidence to arrive at general acceptance. Therefore these articles are by no means intended to offer comprehensive coverage of a particular discovery. They aim instead to highlight a few key papers and to convey a historical perspective on how a particular idea evolved.
In addition to the Milestone articles, the supplement includes a Timeline − a chronology of the earliest papers connected with each Milestone − and a reprinted Collection of relevant articles and reviews from Nature, Nature Materials, Nature Physics and Nature Structural Biology. The Milestones web site also includes an extensive Library of material from the across the Nature Publishing Group. The content of the supplement, as well as selected Library articles, will be available free from 28 February 2008 for six months. A free digital edition of the print supplement can also be downloaded from the web site; there are limited numbers available, so we encourage readers to download one as soon as possible.
Finally, we would like to extend our sincere thanks to the advisors and to acknowledge support from our sponsor, Organic Spintronics. As always, Nature Publishing Group takes complete responsibility for the editorial content.
- Andreas Trabesinger, Senior Editor, Nature Physics
- Alison Wright, Chief Editor, Nature Physics
