The Solvay Councils and the Birth of Modern Physics

1. Front Matter

   Pages I-XIII

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2. Background to the Solvay Councils

   1. Ernest Solvay: The System, the Law and the Council

      • Didier Devriese, Grégoire Wallenborn

      Pages 1-23

   2. Rutherford, the Cavendish Laboratory and the Solvay Councils

      • Jeff Hughes

      Pages 24-34

   3. Paul Langevin and the French Scientists at the Solvay Conferences

      • Bernadette Bensaude-Vincent

      Pages 35-47

   4. The Solvay Councils and the Nobel Institution

      • Elisabeth Crawford

      Pages 48-54

   5. The Organisation of Science in the 19th Century

      • Geert Vanpaemel

      Pages 55-69

   6. Physics Prior to the First Council

      • Pierre Marage, Grégoire Wallenborn

      Pages 70-94

3. The Birth of Modern Physics

   1. The First Solvay Council

      • Pierre Marage, Grégoire Wallenborn

      Pages 95-111

   2. 1913–1921: From the Second to the Third Council

      • Pierre Marage, Grégoire Wallenborn

      Pages 112-133

   3. 1927 The Fifth Council

      • Pierre Marage, Grégoire Wallenborn

      Pages 134-160

   4. The Debate between Einstein and Bohr, or How to Interpret Quantum Mechanics

      • Pierre Marage, Grégoire Wallenborn

      Pages 161-174

   5. 1933: The Seventh Council

      • Pierre Marage, Grégoire Wallenborn

      Pages 175-195

   6. A New Era

      • Pierre Marage, Grégoire Wallenborn

      Pages 196-202

4. Back Matter

   Pages 203-224

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FOREWORD This book came about as a result of two events: an exhibition on the Solvay Physics Councils, held in Brussels in May 1995, and a conference on the same theme which took place at the Free University of Brussels (ULB) on May 1Oth 1995. A book was published in French in conjunction with the exhibition, and much of the present publication is taken from that book. In addition, we have included some of the papers presented at the conference, as we believe they add a further dimension to the history of the Councils. The French term, Conseil Solvay, is usually translated into English as Solvay Conference or Congress. We have elected to retain the particular connotations of the French word Conseil by translating it instead as Council. The Councils were, after all, no ordinary conferences. Only a limited number of participants was invited, hand picked by a scientific committee, who for five to six days took an active part in the sessions and the long discussions that followed. Each day, one or two physicists would present a paper on a subject that had been chosen by the committee to fit in with the overall theme of the Council. The word Conseil expressly implies the gathering of an elite to engage in debate.

• Solvay-Konferenzen 1911-1933
• 19th century
• Albert Einstein
• Cavendish Laboratory
• mechanics
• modern physics
• physics
• quantum mechanics

• Faculté des Sciences — CP 230, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Bruxelles, Belgium

  Pierre Marage

• Institut de Philosophie — CP 175, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Bruxelles, Belgium

  Grégoire Wallenborn

Policies and ethics