Editing History of physics (section)

=== Physical sciences ===

With increased accessibility to and elaboration upon advanced analytical techniques in the 19th century, physics was defined as much, if not more, by those techniques than by the search for universal principles of motion and energy, and the fundamental nature of matter. Fields such as [[acoustics]], [[geophysics]], [[astrophysics]], [[aerodynamics]], [[Plasma (physics)|plasma physics]], [[Cryogenics|low-temperature physics]], and [[solid-state physics]] joined optics, [[fluid dynamics]], [[electromagnetism]], and [[mechanics]] as areas of physical research. In the 20th century, physics also became closely allied with such fields as [[Electrical engineering|electrical]], [[Aerospace engineering|aerospace]] and [[Materials science|materials]] engineering, and physicists began to work in government and industrial laboratories as much as in academic settings. Following World War&nbsp;II, the population of physicists increased dramatically, and came to be centered on the United States, while, in more recent decades, physics has become a more international pursuit than at any time in its previous history.