Physics as a human endeavour

Raphaël Lévy, one of the principal investigators of NanoBubbles — an interdisciplinary project that explores how, when and why science fails to correct itself, talks about the importance of questioning and correcting the scientific record.

Venkatesh Narayanamurti and Jeffrey Y. Tsao discuss lessons learned from the success of the great 20th-century industrial research labs and warn against three common misconceptions about the nature and nurture of research.

Pietro Barabaschi, Director General of ITER, calls for measures and incentives to carefully document the entire research process, including dead ends and failures, instead of reporting just the successful final results.

Established almost 100 years ago, Bell Labs made a great contribution to advancing both fundamental science and technology. Was that the result of a unique set of circumstances or is there a reproducible recipe for success?

Sarah Williams discusses the pressing need to involve the younger generations in the current discussions and decisions about future big projects in particle physics.

“Girls don’t like physics” is a common refrain, but this perception has not always existed, nor does it occur everywhere in the world today. We call on our readers to fight such unfounded stereotypes.

Women and people of colour are underrepresented in physics in many parts of the world, to the detriment of the field. How do academics’ beliefs about the role of ‘brilliance’ in career success contribute to these representation gaps, and what can be done to address them?

When students are in our physics classes, they are doing physics and are part of the professional physics community. Martha-Elizabeth Baylor explains how treating students as professionals and training them in all aspects of what it means to be a physicist benefits both students and the wider community.

In 1931, the psychoanalyst Carl Jung took on an unusual patient, the brilliant young physicist, Wolfgang Pauli. Arthur I. Miller tells the story of their friendship, how they impacted each other’s work, and reflects on creativity.

Science and society are inextricably entangled, but the discussion of social issues in optics and photonics is, at best, treated as peripheral to the field. A group of researchers, technicians, administrative staff, and clinical liaisons share how they came together to start a conversation recognizing these oft-disregarded issues.

In the 20th century, Bell Labs was a renowned industrial research lab in the US, known as the birthplace of the transistor and for the discovery of cosmic microwave background radiation. It was also home to a 40-year minority outreach programme that went on to create a generation of Black scientists. What can initiatives today learn from the success of this fellowship?

Many scientists consider peer review a crucial part of science, but are frustrated by its perceived failures. Historian of science Melinda Baldwin suggests we consider peer review’s historical development to better understand its present-day form.

The International Union for Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP) celebrates its centenary this year, but its beginnings were far from easy. Roberto Lalli and Jaume Navarro reflect on IUPAP’s evolving role in promoting international cooperation.