I have developed an interdisciplinary upper-division undergraduate course 鈥淚ntroduction to Soft Condensed Matter鈥�, which I was teaching for the first time during the Fall 2010 semester as a special topics course Phys 4810. Some of the undergraduates have joined my research group while taking the course. I see this as an indicator of their genuine interest in the field of experimental soft matter physics. The introductory soft matter physics courses only start being offered at the undergraduate level, unlike in the case of solid-state physics and other specialized physics courses, which have been offered on a regular basis. Several professors in other Universities discussed with me the experience of teaching this course, and I shared different course materials with them. Consequently, I was asked by Physics Today to write a review of a textbook for undergraduate courses that would cover both solid state and soft matter branches of Condensed Matter physics*.
* I. I. Smalyukh, a review of the textbook 鈥淔undamentals of Condensed Matter and Crystalline Physics: An Introduction for Students of Physics and Materials Science,鈥� |