Exploring Mesoscopia: The Bold New World of Nanostructures

Interest in the physics of condensed matter at size scales larger than that of atoms but smaller than that of bulk solids—so-called mesoscopic physics—has grown rapidly over the past two decades, but it stems from much earlier beginnings in diverse disciplines. Indeed, nanostructured matter apparently had its genesis with the Big Bang. The structures of the earliest meteorites suggest that matter formed by the condensation of atoms into nanoscale clusters that then aggregated into larger masses under the action of gravity. Many examples of natural nanostructures can be found as well in biological systems from seashells to the human body.