Planck
Subtitle: driven by vision, broken by war
By: Brandon R. Brown
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Published: 2015
Language: eng
Number of pages: 258
ISBN-13: 9780190219475
Subjects: Friends and associates; Family; National socialism and science; Science; Physicists; World War, 1939-1945; Intellectual life; Physics; Biography; History
Description: Max Planck is credited with being the father of quantum theory, and his work laid the foundation for our modern understanding of matter and energetic processes. But Planck's story is not well known, especially in the United States. A German physicist working during the first half of the twentieth century, his library, personal journals, notebooks, and letters were all destroyed with his home in World War II. What remains, other than his contributions to science, are handwritten letters in German shorthand, and tributes from other scientists of the time, including his close friend Albert Einstein. Brown tells the story of Planck's friendship with the far more outspoken Albert Einstein, and shows how his work fits within the explosion of technology and science that occurred during his life. The story of a brilliant man living in a dangerous time, Brandon Brown gives Max Planck his rightful place in the history of science, and shows how war-torn Germany deeply impacted his life and work.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (pages 219-248) and index.
Table of contents: title: October 1944; title: April 1943; title: June 1943; title: October 1943; title: December 1943; title: January 1944; title: February 1944; title: March 1944; title: May 1944; title: June 1944; title: July 1944; title: August 1944; title: November 1944; title: January 1945; title: April 1945; title: May 1945; title: Coda: 1945-1947; title: Appendix.