In short, he concluded, any solid mineral would reveal the phenomenon subject to its being reduced to a sufficiently fine powdery form. The analysis of Brownian movement by A. Einstein in 1905 led to the formulation of the Boltzmann Constant, and shortly afterwards J. B. Perrin began his publications in Paris. Not only did his account range across the many other workers who published since the time of Brown, but he also demonstrated the effect by projection microscopy. A search through Current Contents for 'Brownian Motion' will often provide several citations each month in the modern literature. It was decided to undertake a recreation of his original experiments in order to resolve the matter once and for all.
Brownian movement is familiar to all microscopists.
The agitation caused by evaporation currents induced by thermodynamic turbulence are well known to all experienced research workers. Brownian movement has such unmistakable characteristics. Its kinetic force is directly related to particle size, and the vector of the force that gives rise to the movement is not in any way consistent, nor does it result in motion in a specific direction. To the eye of the microscopist it is, instantly and unmistakably, Brownian movement. In order to provide a solution to the controversy, and in response to many requests from both side of the Atlantic, I determined to set up a video demonstration of what Brown could see through his microscopes.