From Atoms to Planets: The Physics of Minerals Across Scales

Mineral science emerged from humanity’s earliest curiosity about the colors, hardness, and magnetic properties of stones and metals. Across centuries, observations by philosophers, naturalists, and early microscopists gradually revealed that these macroscopic traits arise from the hidden architecture of matter. The scientific revolutions of the 17th–20th centuries—from crystallography and optics to quantum mechanics and high-pressure experimentation—established the atomic foundations of minerals and transformed mineralogy into a modern physical science. Today, mineral physics links nuclei, electrons, defects, and crystal structures to the behavior of Earth and planetary interiors. This sets the stage for this Elements issue, showing how insights across disciplines continue to shape our understanding of minerals from atoms to planets.