Physics at Unicamp: being different

These days I have been writing about the History of the Institute of Physics (IFGW) at Unicamp, one of the main Brazilian centers of research on this area. It had an odd beginning: while in Third World countries theoretical investigation predominates, IFGW turned its emphasis to experimental applied studies three years after it was created. That lead to important results soon, like the Brazilian auto-sufficiency in optical fibers production – although the Institute is relatively new (1967). It is very interesting to decipher why and how that shift happened. This is what I am working on now!