Establishing Quantum Physics in Göttingen

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-ix

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2. Situating Göttingen in the History of Quantum Physics: A Contextual Approach

   • Arne Schirrmacher

   Pages 1-10

3. From Generational Change to Scientific Opportunity

   • Arne Schirrmacher

   Pages 11-26

4. “Hilbert and Physics”—Vision and Resources

   • Arne Schirrmacher

   Pages 27-59

5. The Born “Schools” in Berlin, Frankfurt and Göttingen

   • Arne Schirrmacher

   Pages 61-82

6. Göttingen’s Multiple Avenues Towards Quantum Mechanics

   • Arne Schirrmacher

   Pages 83-94

7. Appendix: Selected Documents

   • Arne Schirrmacher

   Pages 95-106

8. Back Matter

   Pages 107-120

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Quantum mechanics – the grandiose theory that describes nature down to the submicroscopic level – was first formulated in Göttingen in 1925. How did this come about and why is it that Göttingen became the pre-eminent location for a revolution in physics? This book is the first to investigate the wide range of factors that were pivotal for quantum physics to be established in Göttingen. These include the process of generational change of physics professors, the hopes of mathematicians seeking new fields of research, and a new understanding of the interplay of experiment, theory and philosophy.

The other books in the four-volume collection address the beginnings of quantum physics research at Copenhagen, Berlin, and Munich. These works emerged from an expansive study on the quantum revolution as a major transformation of physical knowledge undertaken by the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science and the Fritz Haber Institute (2006–2012).

Formore on this project, see the dedicated Feature Story, The Networks of Early Quantum Theory, at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, https://www.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/feature-story/networks-early-quantum-theory.

• history of quantum mechanics
• David Hilbert
• Max Born
• Werner Heisenberg
• Peter Debye
• birth of quantum theory
• Göttingen university

“The new view about the beginnings of quantum mechanics and the rich collection of documents make it worthwhile to study this book.” (Rita Meyer-Spasche, Isis, Vol. 112 (3), September, 2021)

• Institut für Geschichtswissenschaften, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany

  Arne Schirrmacher

After earning a PhD in theoretical physics, Arne Schirrmacher specialized in the history of science, in particular the history of modern physics, popular science and science museums. He was a researcher at the Deutsches Museum in Munich for many years and now works as a Heisenberg Fellow at the Humboldt University in Berlin.

 

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