The Quantum Ten : A Story of Passion, Tragedy, Ambition, and Science

Theoretical physics is in trouble. At least that's the impression you'd get from reading a spate of recent books on the continued failure to resolve the 80-year-old problem of unifying the classical and quantum worlds. The seeds of this problem were sewn eighty years ago when a dramatic revolution in physics reached a climax at the 1927 Solvay conference in Brussels. It's the story of a rush to formalize quantum physics, the work of just a handful of men fired by ambition, philosophical conflicts and personal agendas. Sheilla Jones paints an intimate portrait of the key figures who wrestled with the mysteries of the new science of the quantum, along with a powerful supporting cast of famous (and not so famous) colleagues. The Brussels conference was the first time so many of the "quantum ten" had been in the same place: Albert Einstein, the lone wolf; Niels Bohr, the obsessive but gentlemanly father figure; Max Born, the anxious hypochondriac; Werner Heisenberg, the intensely ambitious one; Wolfgang Pauli, the sharp-tongued critic with a dark side; Paul Dirac, the silent Englishman; Erwin Schr?dinger, the enthusiastic womanizer; Prince Louis de Broglie, the French aristocrat; and Paul Ehrenfest, who was witness to it all. Pascual Jordan, the ardent Aryan nationalist, came uninvited. This is the story of quantum physics that has never been told, an equation-free investigation into the turbulent development of the new science and its very fallible creators, including little-known details of the personal relationship between the deeply troubled Ehrenfest and his dear friend Albert Einstein. Jones weaves together the personal and the scientific in a heartwarming--and heartbreaking--story of the men who struggled to create quantum physics: a story of passion, tragedy, ambition and science. Theoretical physics is in trouble. At least that's the impression you'd get from reading a spate of recent books on the continued failure to resolve the 80-year-old problem of unifying the classical and quantum worlds. The seeds of this problem were sewn eighty years ago when a dramatic revolution in physics reached a climax at the 1927 Solvay conference in Brussels. It's the story of a rush to formalize quantum physics, the work of just a handful of men fired by ambition, philosophical conflicts and personal agendas. Sheilla Jones paints an intimate portrait of the key figures who wrestled with the mysteries of the new science of the quantum, along with a powerful supporting cast of famous (and not so famous) colleagues. The Brussels conference was the first time so many of the'quantum ten'had been in the same place: Albert Einstein, the lone wolf; Niels Bohr, the obsessive but gentlemanly father figure; Max Born, the anxious hypochondriac; Werner Heisenberg, the intensely ambitious one; Wolfgang Pauli, the sharp-tongued critic with a dark side; Paul Dirac, the silent Englishman; Erwin Schrödinger, the enthusiastic womanizer; Prince Louis de Broglie, the French aristocrat; and Paul Ehrenfest, who was witness to it all. Pascual Jordan, the ardent Aryan nationalist, came uninvited. This is the story of quantum physics that has never been told, an equation-free investigation into the turbulent development of the new science and its very fallible creators, including little-known details of the personal relationship between the deeply troubled Ehrenfest and his dear friend Albert Einstein. Jones weaves together the personal and the scientific in a heartwarming--and heartbreaking--story of the men who struggled to create quantum physics: a story of passion, tragedy, ambition and science. Contents......Page 10 The Quantum Ten......Page 11 1 The Regression of Science......Page 14 2 The Quantum Showdown......Page 30 3 The Birth of the Quantum......Page 46 4 A Place to Belong......Page 66 5 Building a Foundation......Page 80 6 The Cost of Compromise......Page 98 7 Taking a New Path......Page 118 8 Only What the Eye Can See......Page 132 9 The Emergence of the Boys’ Club......Page 144 10 The Göttingen Gospel......Page 164 11 A Meeting of Minds......Page 180 12 Shock Waves......Page 196 13 Drawing the Battle Lines......Page 214 14 Dark Night of the Scientific Soul......Page 234 15 Solvay Prelude......Page 248 16 Coming Undone......Page 264 17 Picking Up the Pieces......Page 282 18 Quantum Confusion......Page 302 Epilogue......Page 306 Notes......Page 310 Bibliography......Page 325 B......Page 330 E......Page 331 H......Page 332 M......Page 333 Q......Page 334 U......Page 335 Z......Page 336 The Regression Of Science -- The Quantum Showdown -- The Birth Of The Quantum -- A Place To Belong -- Building A Foundation -- The Cost Of Compromise -- Taking A New Path -- Only What The Eye Can See -- The Emergence Of The Boys' Club -- The Göttingen Gospel -- A Meeting Of Minds -- Shock Waves -- Drawing The Battle Lines -- Dark Night Of The Scientific Soul -- Solvay Prelude -- Coming Undone -- Picking Up The Pieces -- Quantum Confusion. Sheilla Jones. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 312-316) And Index. The quantum ten -- The regression of science -- The quantum showdown -- The birth of the quantum -- A place to belong -- Building a foundation -- The cost of compromise -- Taking a new path -- Only what the eye can see -- The emergence of the boys' club -- The Gottingen gospel -- A meeting of minds -- Shock waves -- Drawing the battle lines -- Dark night of the scientific soul -- Solvay prelude -- Coming undone -- Picking up the pieces -- Quantum confusion The seeds of the problem of unifying the classical and quantum worlds were sewn 80 years ago when a dramatic revolution in physics reached a climax at the 1927 Solvay conference in Brussels. The story of the rush to formalize quantum physics is that of the work of just a handful of men fired by ambition, conflicts and personal agendas