 existence of new elementary particles, thus lifting some of the microscopic world mysteries. Astrophysics and cosmology were also completely rejuvenated as quantum mechanics formalism proposed explanations for new macroscopic objects, such as white dwarfs or supernovae. Black body emission, one of the earliest experimental evidences of the very origin of quantum physics, was also found to explain the electromagnetic signature of the background of our Universe, telling us about the history of the Big Bang. The discipline where quantum mechanics had more impact on today's life was, however - by and large - solid-state physics. Quantum theory led to the understand- ing of how electrons and nucleons are organized in solids, how this microscopic world can evolve, interact with light or X-rays, transport heat, respond to magnetic fields, or self-organize at atomic scales. Nowadays, quantum chemistry explores the energy lev- els of electrons in complex molecules, and explains its spectroscopic properties in full intimacy. Mechanical, thermal, electric, magnetic, and optical properties of matter were first understood and then engineered. In the second half of the last century, transistors, storage disks (magnetic and optical), laser diodes, integrated semiconductor circuits and processors were developed according to an exponential growth pattern. Computers, telecommunication networks, and cellular phones changed everyone's life. All sectors of human activity were deeply influenced by the above technologies. Globalization and a booming of economy were observed during these decades. Neither a physicist, nor an economist, nor the last mad sci-fi novel writer, could have foreseen, one century ago, such a renewal of knowledge, of production means, and of global information sharing. This consideration illustrates how difficult it is to anticipate the future of mankind, since major changes can originate from the most basic or innocuous academic discoveries. In spite of the difficulty of safe predictions, it is the unwritten du