The completion of quantum mechanics, 1926-1941
By: Jagdish Mehra, Helmut Rechenberg.
Contributors: Rechenberg, Helmut.
Series: The historical development of quantum theory ;; v. 6
Publisher: Springer
Published: 2000
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 1612
Subjects: Quantum theory -- History
Description: Quantum Theory, together with the principles of special and general relativity, constitute a scientific revolution that has profoundly influenced the way in which we think about the universe and the fundamental forces that govern it. The Historical Development of Quantum Theory is a definitive historical study of that scientific work and the human struggles that accompanied it from the beginning. Drawing upon such materials as the resources of the Archives for the History of Quantum Physics, the Niels Bohr Archives, and the archives and scientific correspondence of the principal quantum physicists, as well as Jagdish Mehra's personal discussions over many years with most of the architects of quantum theory, the authors have written a rigorous scientific history of quantum theory in a deeply human context. This multivolume work presents a rich account of an intellectual triumph: a unique analysis of the creative scientific process. The Historical Development of Quantum Theory is science, history, and biography, all wrapped in the story of a great human enterprise. Its lessons will be an aid to those working in the sciences and humanities alike.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and indexes.
Table of contents: title: pt. 1. The probability interpretation and the statistical transformation theory, the physical interpretation, and the empirical and mathematical foundations of quantum mechanics, 1926-1932; title: pt. 2. The conceptual completion and the extensions of quantum mechanics, 1932-1941. Epilogue, aspects of the further development of quantum thoery, 1942-1999.