Galileo may have been the first experimentalist in the field. But the 20th century has been the century of physics. The staggering and the sublime of our century, bombs to quarks, have followed upon the trailblazing of physicists. Lasers, from CD players to the Strategic Defense Initiative, were a fundamental development of physicists. Today UM has a large group of the world's leading laser researchers.
Physicists venture after nature's secrets.
They want to know the properties of matter, what governs its motion, what it is composed of, and how its components interact. They seek to understand electricity, magnetism, radiation, heat, and gravitation, and the relations among them. They are interested in order and in chaos. Among their rewards is the assurance that for each fascinating problem they solve, other problems will be birthed to challenge them tomorrow. There is also the deep satisfaction of being able to use their imaginative and intellectual talents to the full measure of their capabilities.