Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- Part I The Discovery of Quanta
- 1 Physics and theoretical physics in 1895
- 2 Planck and black-body radiation
- 3 Einstein and quanta 1900–1911
- Part II The Old Quantum Theory
- Part III The Discovery of Quantum Mechanics
- Epilogue
- Notes
- References
- Name index
- Subject index
1 - Physics and theoretical physics in 1895
from Part I - The Discovery of Quanta
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 February 2013
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- Part I The Discovery of Quanta
- 1 Physics and theoretical physics in 1895
- 2 Planck and black-body radiation
- 3 Einstein and quanta 1900–1911
- Part II The Old Quantum Theory
- Part III The Discovery of Quantum Mechanics
- Epilogue
- Notes
- References
- Name index
- Subject index
Summary
The triumph of nineteenth century physics
The nineteenth century was an era of unprecedented advance in the understanding of the laws of physics. In mechanics and dynamics, more and more powerful mathematical tools had been developed to enable complex dynamical problems to be solved. In thermodynamics, the first and second laws were firmly established, through the efforts of Rudolf Clausius and William Thomson (Lord Kelvin), and the full ramifications of the concept of entropy for classical thermodynamics were being elaborated. James Clerk Maxwell had derived the equations of electromagnetism which were convincingly validated by Heinrich Hertz's experiments of 1887 to 1889. Light and electromagnetic waves were the same thing, thus providing a firm theoretical foundation for the wave theory of light which could account for virtually all the known phenomena of optics.
Sometimes the impression is given that experimental and theoretical physicists of the 1890s believed that the combination of thermodynamics, electromagnetism and classical mechanics could account for all known physical phenomena and that all that remained was to work out the consequences of these recently won achievements. As remarked by Brian Pippard in his survey of physics in 1900, Albert Michelson's famous remark that
‘Our future discoveries must be looked for in the sixth place of decimals.’
(Michelson, 1903)has often been quoted out of context and is better viewed in the light of Maxwell's words in his inaugural lecture as the first Cavendish Professor of Experimental Physics in 1871:
‘I might bring forward instances gathered from every branch of science, showing how the labour of careful measurement has been rewarded by the discovery of new fields of research, and by the development of new scientific ideas.’
(Maxwell, 1890)- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Quantum Concepts in PhysicsAn Alternative Approach to the Understanding of Quantum Mechanics, pp. 3 - 23Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2013