From the time of Sir Isaac Newton until the second half of the nineteenth century, knowledge of condensed matter was complete on a macroscopic scale. Scientists understood elasticity, hydrodynamics, and thermodynamics as these concepts applied to elements found in nature. Then, in 1916, a Polish metallurgist and chemist, Jan Czochralski, made a discovery about crystals. He was melting some tin and taking notes on crystallization. He had at his elbow an inkwell and a crucible of melted tin for... więcej

Salem Press Encyclopedia of Science, 2019. 5p.