Retiring?

LPS, june 2008 – p.1/9

Retiring?

Pascal LEDERER

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LPS, june 2008 – p.2/9

Pleurait comme une vache ...

...mais tout soudain riait comme un veau

(Rabelais, Pantagruel, 1532)

"He would cry like a cow, and suddenly he would

laugh like a calf..."

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LPS, june 2008 – p.2/9

Pleurait comme une vache ...

...mais tout soudain riait comme un veau

(Rabelais, Pantagruel, 1532)

"He would cry like a cow, and suddenly he would

laugh like a calf..."

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LPS, june 2008 – p.3/9

Was Macbeth right?

Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player

That struts and frets his hour upon the stage

And then is heard no more: it is a tale

Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,

Signifying nothing.

(Shakespeare, Macbeth)

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LPS, june 2008 – p.4/9

Metallurgy...

...is the most ancient science of humanity!

(J. Friedel, 1963)

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LPS, june 2008 – p.4/9

Metallurgy...

...is the most ancient science of humanity!

(J. Friedel, 1963)

sixties: alloys, Slater-Pauling curve, spin fluctuations, Kondo problem,...and no

computer

(genetic code being decoded!)

eighties: Quantum Hall effects (also FISDW...), superconducting cuprates

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LPS, june 2008 – p.5/9

2000 onwards...

....other wondrous discoveries, with

nanotechnology everywhere:

excitonic superfluidity in QH bilayers

cold atoms

superconducting ruthenates

nanotubes

frustrated quantum magnets

graphene!

irrational charges in 1D!

superconducting Fe pnictides!

etc., etc..

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LPS, june 2008 – p.6/9

The times...

they are a’changing...(Bob Dylan)

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LPS, june 2008 – p.6/9

The times...

they are a’changing...(Bob Dylan)

1957: the Sputnik is launched! And so is world science race

Research in the sixties is expanding, positions are permanent (almost...) (no PhD

required).

Physics in cold war is thought to stimulate economy, culture, social progress...and

(nuclear) armament.

CNRS and Universities form joint laboratories (Friedel, Blandin)

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LPS, june 2008 – p.6/9

The times...

they are a’changing...(Bob Dylan)

1957: the Sputnik is launched! And so is world science race

Research in the sixties is expanding, positions are permanent (almost...) (no PhD

required).

Physics in cold war is thought to stimulate economy, culture, social progress...and

(nuclear) armament.

CNRS and Universities form joint laboratories (Friedel, Blandin)

2003 onwards:

2003 onwards: science mainly for economic warfare? Applied grants only? CNRS

dismantled?

permanent jobs for the happy few?

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LPS, june 2008 – p.7/9

Paul Langevin:

“A scientist has two duties:

a duty of originality

a duty of solidarity”

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LPS, june 2008 – p.7/9

Paul Langevin:

“A scientist has two duties:

a duty of originality

a duty of solidarity”

Subprime crisis, speculation on rice corn, etc., hunger riots, greenhouse effects...

How could science be directed to improve economy, enrich culture,

result in social progress, and preserve the planet?

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LPS, june 2008 – p.7/9

Paul Langevin:

“A scientist has two duties:

a duty of originality

a duty of solidarity”

Subprime crisis, speculation on rice corn, etc., hunger riots, greenhouse effects...

How could science be directed to improve economy, enrich culture,

result in social progress, and preserve the planet?

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LPS, june 2008 – p.8/9

The end?

"Le secret d’ennuyer est de tout dire" (Voltaire,

Sept discours en vers sur l’Homme)

"The way to be a bore is to say everything"...

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LPS, june 2008 – p.9/9

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Thank you!

LPS, june 2008 – p.9/9