The melodious chime of the cuckoo clock roused Alice from her sleep. Looking
around her room, which was bathed in the morning sun, she exclaimed, “What
a beautiful day!”
Alice was still overwhelmed by the experience of the previous day. It seemed
she now knew some secrets no one else was aware of — except, of course, the
professor, the inventor of the shrinking machine.
She was eager to learn more and to experience first hand what the professor
meant by the two degrees of freedom. She understood that the phase map
was merely a metaphor for the real phase diagram. She also understood what
it meant to increase or decrease the pressure and the temperature. In fact, not
only had she understood, but she had actually experienced it with her senses.
But how were these concepts of pressure and temperature seen, or perceived,
in the microscopic world?
Alice was unusually quiet at breakfast, and it had not escaped her mother’s
attention. The girl seemed to be lost in thought over some unknown problem.
“What’s bothering you, sweetie? You look as if you’re carrying the weight
of the world on your shoulders,” said Alice’s mother, finishing her sentence
with a chuckle.
“Oh Mom, don’t be silly. I was just thinking about our lesson the other day.
The professor explained things so clearly that I can’t think about anything else.
Science classes are rarely so interesting and exciting!”