Faraday Discussions have a splendid reputation in stimulating scientic debates
along the traditions set by Michael Faraday himself. The Faraday Discussion 178 on
nanoplasmonics has been particularly appropriate. Nanoplasmonics is the science
of harnessing the interaction of light and matter on the nanometer scale. Plasmonics
is a highly interdisciplinary eld bridging between physics, chemistry,
modern nanotechnology and nanophotonics. Michael Faraday, rstly a chemist with
original contributions in electrochemistry, paved fundamental roads in physics,
establishing the basic concepts of the electromagnetic eld in physics and the effect
of magnetism on rays of light. He pointed out the peculiar effect metal particles have
on light and the importance of the particle size. He mentioned gold as especially
tted for experiments, a tradition carried on until today.1 As such, the spirit and
scientic foundations of Michael Faraday have been ever-present at the Burlington
house gathering in February 2015 (Fig. 1). Here, highlights of the presented papers
and discussions are summarized with an eye on future perspectives.
