Peter Edwards is a chemist, revered for his contributions to several areas of condensed matter physics — a field that deals with the properties of condensed phases of matter and has aided the development of key technologies, including lasers. In particular, Peter focuses on metal–nonmetal transitions, which impart interesting properties on materials.

His experimental work is skillful, with an example of this being his outstanding work on the magnetic properties of alkali-metal solutions, which include metals such as lithium and sodium. He also pioneered the development of new synthetic techniques and experiments on small metallic particles and clusters, as well as many other contributions.

Peter has received many accolades, including the Bakerian Lecture by the Royal Society in 2012, as well as being elected International Member of the American Philosophical Society — one of only four members chosen from the United Kingdom that year. He is currently Professor of Inorganic Chemistry and former Head of Inorganic Chemistry at the University of Oxford.