Marvin Cohen, University Professor, Dept. of Physics, U.C. Berkeley, Material Sciences Division, LBNL, comments that during the "World Year of Physics" in 2005, the centennial anniversary of Einstein's great accomplishments was celebrated, and physics was generally promoted and celebrated. Some of the activities related to the WYP are ongoing. Prof. Cohen shares a few observations about the WYP and Einstein, including some comments on his contributions to what is now condensed matter physics. He then goes on to a brief discussion of reductionism and emergence in relation to condensed matter physics using examples from research on the ground- and excited-state properties of solids. Finally, he focuses on a few recent developments in nanoscience and superconductivity that he and his Berkeley colleagues have contributed to.