CONDUCTIVITY AND MAGNETISM: THE LEGACY OF FELIX BLOCH - A STANFORD CENTENNIAL SYMPOSIUM CELEBRATING THE WORKS OF FELIX BLOCH (1905-1983)

Felix Bloch was one of the foremost scientists of the 20th century. His work on the theory of metals in 1929 laid the cornerstone for the development of semiconductors and his work on magnetism was crucial for the development of a basic understanding of ferromagnetism. Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, which he discovered in 1946, and for which he shared the Nobel Prize with Edward Purcell in 1952, has become the most important spectroscopic tool in Chemistry. The year 1989 marks the sixtieth year since Bloch's paper on the Theory of Metals. This Symposium celebrated the occasion by gathering a group of distinguished scientists who presented overviews of the past, present and future of several major areas of Physics, Chemistry, Engineering, Computer Science, Biology and Medicine, many of which trace their origins to Bloch's influence.