Connections between physics, 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 and subtle web, linking all aspects of human culture in a way that eludes our convenient intellectual categories.

In this lecture, Sir Michael Berry will explore this theme in a non-technical way. The talk will range widely, from music, through how quantum physics helps him do quantum physics, to oriental mirrors and the colour of gold.

Sir Michael Berry has made important contributions to quantum physics and is well known for the Berry phase, a phenomenon that has found applications in atomic, condensed matter, nuclear, and elementary particle physics, as well as optics.

Refreshments after the lecture. Talk begins 18:30 with introduction from Professor Sir Peter Knight President of the IOP.

This lecture is open to the public and will be of interest to anyone who admires and appreciates the intellectual power of physicists such as Einstein but wonders what they actually do.

Event poster (PDF, 3 MB): http://www.iop.org/events/info/file_59350.pdf

http://publiclectures2013.iop.org