Natelson named one of the top 20 scientists under 40 by Discover

By Jaclyn Youngblood     11/20/08 6:00pm

Rice has a great number of accomplished professors, but only one has been called the Benjamin Franklin of nanoscience and could potentially be the science adviser to President-elect Barack Obama. Discover magazine made the connection between the revered figure of the American Revolution and Associate Astronomy and Physics Professor Doug Natelson in its December issue. The magazine named Natelson as one of the Top 20 Scientists under 40 years old.

While disagreeing with the article's comparison to Benjamin Franklin, Natelson said he was honored to receive the recognition for his work in the fields of condensed matter and nanoscale physics.

"It's very flattering," Natelson said. "It's very nice."

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Natelson said he was pleasantly surprised by the accolades from Discover magazine but said he was unsure how the magazine staff had heard about his research.

"I have no idea how they got my name," Natelson said. "I kind of asked and they didn't really say. I don't know what their process was at all."

When asked to define condensed matter and nanoscale physics for non-science or engineering majors, Natelson chuckled.

"Condensed matter physics is the en-vogue, modern name for what used to be called solid-state physics," he said.

The name changed in order to convey that solid-state physics includes the study of liquids as well as solids. Nanoscale physics deals with the properties of matter on the nanometer scale. Some of the research done by Natelson includes studying electrical properties of molecules, often at the minute length of two nanometers.

"[That's] 50,000 times narrower than . the proverbial 'human hair,'" he said.

Natelson and his team of researchers have worked with single-molecule devices, shrinking electrical circuits to an extremely miniature scale. Additionally, he said his research on organic superconductors has engendered a buzz among the science community. Natelson's work on the nanoscale earned him him the David and Lucille Packard Fellowship, a grant to do further research in physics, in 2003.

In response to speculations on his blog about becoming Obama's science advisor, he said he has not been approached nor does he have any plans at the moment to take his career in that direction.

Natelson has been teaching nanotechnology and statistical and thermal physics at Rice since fall 2005. He has a blog, "nanoscale views," where he posts discussions for his statistical and thermal physics course this fall. He said he is always thrilled when students come up with clever solutions to his assignments.

Natelson's scientific career began upon completion of an engineering physics certificate program, which was part of his mechanical engineering major at Princeton University. He attended Stanford University for graduate school, studied low temperature physics and became involved in postdoctoral work at Bell Labs in New Jersey where he worked with nanoscale technologies.

Natelson said he was attracted to Rice due to its reputation as a research university in addition to the emphasis on undergraduate education. He said he was impressed by the quality of the facilities and the trajectory of the university's future.

"You don't get that many chances to go some place where it ... looks like things are going in a really good direction," he said. "Rice is one of those [places].

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