Superconductors are amazing materials, capable of carrying enormous electrical currents without dissipation at very low temperatures. With the advent of higher-temperature superconductors fifteen years ago, widespread applications seemed imminent, but few have come to market. So where are all the flying trains? In this presentation, we will discuss superconductors from historical, scientific, and technological perspectives.

Charles Cunningham has a Ph.D. from Stanford University and has taught physics at Grinnell since 1993. He has done research in superconductor physics for 15 years at Stanford, Lawrence Livermore Laboratory, and Grinnell and has published many articles, some with student co-authors. On a recent sabbatical at Ames Laboratory, he did some of the earliest work on the newly-discovered superconductor magnesium diboride.