Colloidal Matter
Soft materials are those in which the thermal energy is a relevant energy scale. Soft matter has often been epitomized by colloidal particles. These follow statistical mechanics like atoms and molecules.
However, colloids are readily perturbed from equilibrium. They exhibit far-from-equilibrium phenomena pivotal in the development of new non-equilibrium statistical mechanics. This revolutionises the concepts underpinning many landmarks of condensed matter.
Real space analysis - i.e. tracking the coordinates of such particles (with confocal microscopy for 3D systems) - constituted a major breakthrough in the field. Within this experiment, coordinates of the constituent particles were obtained to yield a level of detail usually accessible only to computer simulation.
Colloidal breaking wave
Colloidal particle gallaxy