The following article is based on an edited transcript of the Turnbull Lecture presented by Jim Chelikowsky (University of Minnesota), recipient of the 2001 Materials Research Society David Turnbull Lectureship, at the 2001 MRS Fall Meeting on November 27 in Boston. Chelikowsky was cited for “contributions to the fundamental understanding of electronic, optical, mechanical, surface, and interface properties of bulk and nanostructured semiconductors, ceramics, and metals through ab initio calculations; and for excellence in teaching, lecturing, and writing.”
