N. David Mermin (placeholder)

Joining the Cornell faculty in 1964, Mermin, the Horace White Professor of Physics, was trained in the theory of liquids. Over the years, his academic interests shifted to solid state physics, statistical physics, low temperature physics, mathematical crystallography and quantum computation, but his zeal for trying to explain complex science persisted. His book “Solid State Physics,” co-authored with Cornell colleague Neil Ashcroft in 1976 and now a standard textbook, was immediately translated into Polish, Russian and Japanese, and was recently translated into German and French, even though it is now almost 30 years old.

After more than 40 years of science writing, Mermin says that a good way to reveal the most interesting facet of a complex piece of physics is to pick a special case and explain it in plain language. “Instead of stating a result in technical terms like spin angular momentum, use a black box that flashes a red or green light,” said Mermin. Among his many awards is the inaugural American Physics Society Julius Edgar Lilienfeld Prize in 1989, which lauded “his remarkable clarity and wit as a lecturer to nonspecialists on difficult subjects.”

The physics professor is also a pianist. Two years ago Mermin volunteered to perform in the Cornell concert series Musicians Manqués. “The new director of the Society for the Humanities thought it would be fun to sponsor a series by Cornell amateur musicians, and my teacher has always said I needed this type of experience. So I said, put me in the last concert of the season, so I can have lots of time to practice,” said Mermin, who finished his recital with Beethoven’s Sonata in F minor, Op. 57.

He also plans to write a book on quantum computing for computer scientists—yet another attempt to take on the challenge of explaining a field of physics to readers with no training whatsoever in the discipline.

Source: http://www.cornell.edu/academics/faculty/dmermin.cfm