Overview
- Presents a history of the correspondence principle from a new perspective
- Argues for a new understanding of the history of the old quantum theory and the emergence of quantum mechanics
- Offers new insights into the relation between the practice of theory and conceptual development in physics
Part of the book series: Archimedes (ARIM, volume 56)
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Table of contents (8 chapters)
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Front Matter
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Back Matter
Keywords
- Correspondence Principle in Copenhagen
- Practice of Theory and conceptual development
- Conceptual Development of the Correspondence Principle
- Quantum Theory and Quantum Mechanics
- History of Quantum Mechanics
- Niels Bohr's Adaptive (Re-)Formulation
- Extension of the Correspondence Principle
- Correspondence Principle in the Quantum Network
- Hund and the Ramsauer Effect
- Hund and the Non-deflection Hypothesis
About this book
This book presents a history of the correspondence principle from a new perspective. The author provides a unique exploration of the relation between the practice of theory and conceptual development in physics. In the process, he argues for a new understanding of the history of the old quantum theory and the emergence of quantum mechanics.
The analysis looks at how the correspondence principle was disseminated and how the principle was applied as a research tool during the 1920s. It provides new insights into the interaction between theoretical tools and scientific problems and shows that the use of this theoretical tool changed the tool itself in a process of transformation through implementation. This process, the author claims, was responsible for the conceptual development of the correspondence principle.
This monograph connects to the vast literature in the history of science, which analyzed theoretical practices as based on tacit knowledge, skills, and calculation techniques. It contributes to the historical understanding of quantum physics and the emergence of quantum mechanics. Studying how physicists used a set of tools to solve problems, the author spells out the ‟skillful guessing” that went into the making of quantum theoretical arguments and argues that the integration and implementation of technical resources was a central driving force for the conceptual and theoretical transformation in the old quantum theory.
Reviews
“This book provides an original contribution to the study of the history of quantum mechanics. … The monograph is carefully written and logically organised, it further provides valuable insights based on a rich historical documentation.” (Bassano Vacchini, zbMATH 1428.81004, 2020)
Authors and Affiliations
About the author
Jähnert studied History and Physics at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and completed his Ph.D. thesis Practicing the Correspondence Principle in the Old Quantum Theory at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science and the Technische Universität Berlin. Currently he is a post-doc at the Berlin Center for the History Knowledge with the project “Photometry at the Lighthouse”.
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Practicing the Correspondence Principle in the Old Quantum Theory
Book Subtitle: A Transformation through Implementation
Authors: Martin Jähnert
Series Title: Archimedes
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-13300-9
Publisher: Springer Cham
eBook Packages: Physics and Astronomy, Physics and Astronomy (R0)
Copyright Information: Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019
Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-030-13299-6Published: 01 July 2019
Softcover ISBN: 978-3-030-13302-3Published: 14 August 2020
eBook ISBN: 978-3-030-13300-9Published: 20 June 2019
Series ISSN: 1385-0180
Series E-ISSN: 2215-0064
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XIII, 293
Number of Illustrations: 21 b/w illustrations
Topics: History and Philosophical Foundations of Physics, History of Science, Philosophy of Science, Intellectual Studies, Cultural History