Here we are, in the 21st century, and yet we are still waiting for the jetpacks and flying cars that were promised in 1950s science fiction movies and 1960s comic books. Those movies and comic books thought that we would have a revolution in energy (needed to have a flying car), while what we got instead was a revolution in information. This information revolution was made possible by the development of semiconductor and solid state physics, which in turn was made possible by the discovery of Quantum Mechanics. James Kakalios is a Taylor Distinguished Professor and Head of the School of Physics and Astronomy. His experimental research ranges from the nano to the neuro, and he is active in outreach and public engagement. In this talk you'll learn how three "simple" ideas, developed 100 years ago, made solar cells, LEDs, transistors, lasers, glow-in-the-dark toys and MRIs possible.
