Record Details



Enlarge cover image for Faust in Copenhagen : a struggle for the soul of physics / Gino Segrè. Book

Faust in Copenhagen : a struggle for the soul of physics / Gino Segrè.

Segrè, Gino. (Author).

Summary:

Known to physicists as the "miracle year," 1932 saw the discovery of the neutron and the first artificially induced nuclear transmutation. However, while physicists celebrated these momentous discoveries--which presaged the era of big science and nuclear bombs--Europe was moving inexorably toward totalitarianism and war. In April of that year, about forty of the world's leading physicists--including Werner Heisenberg, Lise Meitner, and Paul Dirac--came to Niels Bohr's Copenhagen Institute for their annual informal meeting about the frontiers of physics. Physicist Gino Segrè brings to life this historic gathering, which ended with a humorous skit based on Goethe's Faust--little knowing the Faustian bargains they would face in the near future. Capturing the interplay between the great scientists as well as the discoveries they discussed and debated, Segrè evokes the moment when physics--and the world--was about to lose its innocence.--From publisher description.

Record details

  • ISBN: 9780670038589
  • ISBN: 067003858X
  • Physical Description: x, 310 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm
  • Publisher: New York : Viking, 2007.

Content descriptions

Bibliography, etc. Note:
Includes bibliographical references (pages 293-297) and index.
Formatted Contents Note:
1. Munich now and then -- 2. The changing times : The 1920s ; The birth of the quantum ; Why Copenhagen? ; The meetings begin ; The 1932 meeting -- 3. Goethe and Faust : In the glow of Goethe ; The "Copenhagen Faust" -- 4. The front row: the old guard : Niels Bohr ; Paul Ehrenfest ; Lise Meitner -- 5. The front row: the revolutionaries : Old age is a cold fever ; Werner Heisenberg ; Wolfgang Pauli ; Paul Dirac ; Classical mechanics versus quantum mechanics -- 6. The front row: the young ones : The curse of the Knabenphysik ; Max Delbrück -- 7. The coming storm : The periodic table ; The new Kepler ; Göttingen in 1922 ; Triumph and crisis ; The new optimism -- 8. The revolution begins : Helgoland ; Another sleepless night ; Waves or particles ; Heinsenberg versus Schrödinger ; Uncertainty and complementarity -- 9. The king in decline : The crucial Solvay Conference ; Einstein -- the king -- 10. The great synthesis : Dirac's equation ; How Max Delbrück joined Knabenphysik ; Physics begins to split ; Delbrück's choices -- 11. Conservation of energy : The mysteries of the nucleus ; The barrier is too high ; Heaven and earth ; The revolutionary proposals ; The three young geniuses each write a book -- 12. The new generation comes of age : The apprenticeship ; Copenhagen 1932 ; The "Blegdamsvej Faust" -- Delbrück's dilemma -- 13. The miracle year : The discovery of the neutron ; Copenhagen and the neutron ; The miracle year ; Big science is born ; The hammer and the needle -- 14. Ehrenfest's end -- Epilogue, Or what happened afterward to the Front Row's other six : How Meitner discovered nuclear fission ; How Bohr lived happily ever after ; How Dirac got married ; How Heisenberg inspired his friend to paint like Titian ; How Pauli's anama made him leave the United States ; How Delbrück became a biologist.
Subject:
Physicists > Psychology.
Physicists > Intellectual life > 20th century.
Quantum theory > History > 20th century.
Physicists > Psychology.
Quantum theory.
Genre:
History.

Available copies

  • 1 of 1 copy available at Northwest Indian College.

Holds

  • 0 current holds with 1 total copy.
Show All Copies
Location Call Number / Copy Notes Barcode Shelving Location Status Due Date
Lummi Library QC 15 .S44 2007 289362 Stacks Available -

Electronic resources


LDR 05063cam a2200541 a 4500
00143912
003NWIC
00520181023163707.0
008061108s2007 nyua b 001 0deng
010 . ‡a 2006052807
035 . ‡a(OCoLC)76416691
040 . ‡aDLC ‡beng ‡cDLC ‡dBAKER ‡dBTCTA ‡dC#P ‡dYDXCP ‡dBUR ‡dIXA ‡dVP@ ‡dOMB ‡dSMP ‡dCQU ‡dTTU ‡dZWZ ‡dOCLCQ ‡dMDAVP ‡dOCLCF ‡dOCLCQ
020 . ‡a9780670038589
020 . ‡a067003858X
035 . ‡a(OCoLC)76416691
05000. ‡aQC15 ‡b.S427 2007
08200. ‡a530.092/2 ‡222
1001 . ‡aSegrè, Gino.
24510. ‡aFaust in Copenhagen : ‡ba struggle for the soul of physics / ‡cGino Segrè.
260 . ‡aNew York : ‡bViking, ‡c2007.
300 . ‡ax, 310 pages : ‡billustrations ; ‡c24 cm
336 . ‡atext ‡btxt ‡2rdacontent
337 . ‡aunmediated ‡bn ‡2rdamedia
338 . ‡avolume ‡bnc ‡2rdacarrier
504 . ‡aIncludes bibliographical references (pages 293-297) and index.
5050 . ‡a1. Munich now and then -- 2. The changing times : The 1920s ; The birth of the quantum ; Why Copenhagen? ; The meetings begin ; The 1932 meeting -- 3. Goethe and Faust : In the glow of Goethe ; The "Copenhagen Faust" -- 4. The front row: the old guard : Niels Bohr ; Paul Ehrenfest ; Lise Meitner -- 5. The front row: the revolutionaries : Old age is a cold fever ; Werner Heisenberg ; Wolfgang Pauli ; Paul Dirac ; Classical mechanics versus quantum mechanics -- 6. The front row: the young ones : The curse of the Knabenphysik ; Max Delbrück -- 7. The coming storm : The periodic table ; The new Kepler ; Göttingen in 1922 ; Triumph and crisis ; The new optimism -- 8. The revolution begins : Helgoland ; Another sleepless night ; Waves or particles ; Heinsenberg versus Schrödinger ; Uncertainty and complementarity -- 9. The king in decline : The crucial Solvay Conference ; Einstein -- the king -- 10. The great synthesis : Dirac's equation ; How Max Delbrück joined Knabenphysik ; Physics begins to split ; Delbrück's choices -- 11. Conservation of energy : The mysteries of the nucleus ; The barrier is too high ; Heaven and earth ; The revolutionary proposals ; The three young geniuses each write a book -- 12. The new generation comes of age : The apprenticeship ; Copenhagen 1932 ; The "Blegdamsvej Faust" -- Delbrück's dilemma -- 13. The miracle year : The discovery of the neutron ; Copenhagen and the neutron ; The miracle year ; Big science is born ; The hammer and the needle -- 14. Ehrenfest's end -- Epilogue, Or what happened afterward to the Front Row's other six : How Meitner discovered nuclear fission ; How Bohr lived happily ever after ; How Dirac got married ; How Heisenberg inspired his friend to paint like Titian ; How Pauli's anama made him leave the United States ; How Delbrück became a biologist.
520 . ‡aKnown to physicists as the "miracle year," 1932 saw the discovery of the neutron and the first artificially induced nuclear transmutation. However, while physicists celebrated these momentous discoveries--which presaged the era of big science and nuclear bombs--Europe was moving inexorably toward totalitarianism and war. In April of that year, about forty of the world's leading physicists--including Werner Heisenberg, Lise Meitner, and Paul Dirac--came to Niels Bohr's Copenhagen Institute for their annual informal meeting about the frontiers of physics. Physicist Gino Segrè brings to life this historic gathering, which ended with a humorous skit based on Goethe's Faust--little knowing the Faustian bargains they would face in the near future. Capturing the interplay between the great scientists as well as the discoveries they discussed and debated, Segrè evokes the moment when physics--and the world--was about to lose its innocence.--From publisher description.
650 0. ‡aPhysicists ‡xPsychology.
650 0. ‡aPhysicists ‡xIntellectual life ‡y20th century.
650 0. ‡aQuantum theory ‡xHistory ‡y20th century.
650 7. ‡aPhysicists ‡xPsychology. ‡2fast ‡0(OCoLC)fst01063023
650 7. ‡aQuantum theory. ‡2fast ‡0(OCoLC)fst01085128
648 7. ‡a1900-1999 ‡2fast
655 7. ‡aHistory. ‡2fast ‡0(OCoLC)fst01411628
85642. ‡3Contributor biographical information ‡uhttp://catdir.loc.gov/catdir/enhancements/fy0743/2006052807-b.html
85642. ‡3Publisher description ‡uhttp://catdir.loc.gov/catdir/enhancements/fy0743/2006052807-d.html
8564 . ‡uhttp://catdir.loc.gov/catdir/enhancements/fy0743/2006052807-b.html ‡zContributor biographical information
8564 . ‡uhttp://catdir.loc.gov/catdir/enhancements/fy0743/2006052807-d.html ‡zPublisher description
938 . ‡aBaker & Taylor ‡bBKTY ‡c25.95 ‡d19.46 ‡i067003858X ‡n0007048614 ‡sactive
938 . ‡aBaker and Taylor ‡bBTCP ‡n2006052807
938 . ‡aYBP Library Services ‡bYANK ‡n2527677
0291 . ‡aAU@ ‡b000041076848
0291 . ‡aNZ1 ‡b11477512
0291 . ‡aNZ1 ‡b1571174
994 . ‡aZ0 ‡bWANIC
948 . ‡hNO HOLDINGS IN WANIC - 662 OTHER HOLDINGS
901 . ‡aocm76416691 ‡bOCoLC ‡c43912 ‡tbiblio