Wulff Lecture: Funny Microscope Videos – Prof. Frances M. Ross

We can watch crystals grow in the electron microscope by slowly adding atoms to a clean surface. The movies tell us about kinetics and thermodynamics but can also be entertaining, frustrating, or both at the same time. I will attempt to share the joy of this “in situ” microscopy as we aim to understand how atoms assemble into nanowires or nanocrystals and use the information to control the formation of more complex nanostructures.

The Wulff Lecture is an introductory, general audience, entertaining lecture that aims to educate, inspire, and encourage MIT undergraduates to take up study of materials science and engineering and related fields. The entire MIT community, particularly first-year students, is invited to attend. The Wulff Lecture honors the late Professor John Wulff, a skilled, provocative, and entertaining teacher who conceived of a new approach to teaching general chemistry and inaugurated the popular first-year subject, 3.091 Introduction to Solid State Chemistry.