The traditional Annual Conference of the Science Academy, Türkiye was held this year on December 20th at İş Sanat, titled “The Imagination of Physics.” Although the lecture, featuring Mete Atatüre—Member of The Science Academy, Türkiye and Director of the Cavendish Laboratory at Cambridge University—attracted interest from all ages, the hall was primarily filled with students an young researchers.
Following the reception the conference commenced at 6.00 PM with an opening speech by Hakan Orer, President of the Science Academy, Türkiye. During his approximately one-hour presentation, Mete Atatüre examined the historical development of physics through a broad perspective, ranging from the concept of “discovery” to the approach of “emergence.” He began by discussing the initial steps that distinguished natural phenomena from mythological explanations and moved toward the 17th century, when scientific theory gained the power to quantitatively predict nature.
Atatüre emphasized that this reductionist path encounters obstacles in complex systems where numerous particles or components interact. He demonstrated with examples that knowing fundamental particles and their laws is not sufficient on its own; macroscopic properties such as electrical resistance, superconductivity, wettability, or magnetism cannot be directly predicted solely by starting from atoms and fundamental particles.
The Q&A session, which lasted about 40 minutes following the lecture attended by more than 600 participants, became the most vibrant part of the event. After the session, Ali Alpar, Founding President of The Science Academy, took the stage to thank all participants and young people, concluding the event with the remark: “This curiosity, especially among the youth, is of utmost importance for the future of the world.”
Click here to watch the event recording.
22/12/2025