The Romans built enduring bridges well before Newton came along, armed simply with a working knowledge of mechanics and materials. In contrast, today's bridge building is an elaborate enterprise involving CAD tools, composite materials and acoustic imaging. When technology is pushed to its limits, a working knowledge proves inadequate, and an in-depth understanding of core physical principles, both macroscopic and microscopic, top-down vs bottom-up, becomes essential.We find ourselves today at a similar crossroad in semiconductor device technology, where a working knowledge of solid state...

The Romans built enduring bridges well before Newton came along, armed simply with a working knowledge of mechanics and materials. In contrast, today's bridge building is an elaborate enterprise involving CAD tools, composite materials and acoustic imaging. When technology is pushed to its limits, a working knowledge proves inadequate, and an in-depth understanding of core physical principles, both macroscopic and microscopic, top-down vs bottom-up, becomes essential.We find ourselves today at a similar crossroad in semiconductor device technology, where a working knowledge of solid state...