71. The attraction of repulsion

71. The attraction of repulsion

When we think of self-organization, we tend to think of objects attracting one another to get together and form patterns. But, as Terry Prtachett pointed out in The Color of Magic, ‘hate is an attracting force, just like love’. And when I came to study particles that...
3. Newton’s Missed Chance

3. Newton’s Missed Chance

The story of light is still going, with some very surprising twists, as later posts will show. Light itself can even be twisted, like the fibers in a rope, and also used to lift small objects and move them around. When Newton published his book Opticks in 1704,...