The luck of the materials scientist
Studying the structure of disordered materials is complicated, but Simon Billinge explains how it opens the door to designer materials with desired properties
Napoleon is often quoted as having said that he’d rather have lucky generals than good ones. This point was almost certainly not his, but it is a valid one. Those people who grasp all the opportunities presented to them are more likely than others to be both lucky and successful in their chosen careers. This certainly applies to Simon Billinge, whose research over the last 25 years has centred on the relationship between the atomic structures and the properties of novel materials. Many of these – including photovoltaics and pharmaceutical products – are nanomaterials with properties that arise directly from structural components with dimensions on the nanoscale.