Overview
- Explores the rise of theoretical physics in 19th century Germany
- Shows how physics developed within German universities
- Characterizes the work of theoretical physics
Part of the book series: Archimedes (ARIM, volume 48)
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Table of contents (16 chapters)
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Front Matter
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Back Matter
Keywords
- Theoretical physics
- Mathematical physics
- Classical physics
- German universities
- History of physics
- History of theoretical physics
- Nineteenth century physics
- Methods of theoretical physics
- Scientific specialization
- Georg Simon Ohm
- Carl Friedrich Gauss
- Wilhelm Weber
- Franz Neumann
- Gustav Kirchhoff
- Rudolf Clausius
- Hermann von Helmholtz
- Woldemar Voigt
- Ludwig Boltzmann
- Max Planck
- Albert Einstein
About this book
This book explores the rise of theoretical physics in 19th century Germany. The authors show how the junior second physicist in German universities over time became the theoretical physicist, of equal standing to the experimental physicist. Gustav Kirchhoff, Hermann von Helmholtz, and Max Planck are among the great German theoretical physicists whose work and career are examined in this book.
Physics was then the only natural science in which theoretical work developed into a major teaching and research specialty in its own right. Readers will discover how German physicists arrived at a well-defined field of theoretical physics with well understood and generally accepted goals and needs. The authors explain the nature of the work of theoretical physics with many examples, taking care always to locate the research within the workplace.
The book is a revised and shortened version of Intellectual Mastery of Nature: Theoretical Physics from Ohm to Einstein, a two-volume work by the same authors. This new edition represents a reformulation of the larger work. It retains what is most important in the original work, while including new material, sharpening discussions, and making the research more accessible to readers. It presents a thorough examination of a seminal era in physics.
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Authors and Affiliations
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: The Second Physicist
Book Subtitle: On the History of Theoretical Physics in Germany
Authors: Christa Jungnickel, Russell McCormmach
Series Title: Archimedes
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-49565-1
Publisher: Springer Cham
eBook Packages: Physics and Astronomy, Physics and Astronomy (R0)
Copyright Information: Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2017
Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-319-49564-4Published: 21 June 2017
Softcover ISBN: 978-3-319-84190-8Published: 01 August 2018
eBook ISBN: 978-3-319-49565-1Published: 10 June 2017
Series ISSN: 1385-0180
Series E-ISSN: 2215-0064
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XXXI, 460
Number of Illustrations: 15 b/w illustrations
Topics: Theoretical, Mathematical and Computational Physics, Applications of Mathematics, Epistemology, History of Science