Table Of ContentRemarkable Physicists
FromGalileotoYukawa
The250yearsfromthesecondhalfoftheseventeenthcenturysawthe
birthofmodernphysicsanditsgrowthintooneofthemostsuccessfulof
thesciences.Thereaderwillfindherethelivesoffiftyofthemost
remarkablephysicistsfromthateradescribedinbriefbiographies.Allthe
charactersprofiledhavemadeimportantcontributionstophysics,through
theirideas,throughtheirteaching,orinotherways.Theemphasisison
theirvariedlife-stories,notonthedetailsoftheirachievements,but,
whenreadinsequence,thebiographies,whichareorganized
chronologically,conveyinhumantermssomethingofthewayinwhich
physicswascreated.Scientificandmathematicaldetailiskepttoa
minimum,sothereaderwhoisinterestedinphysics,butperhapslacks
thebackgroundtofollowtechnicalaccounts,willfindthiscollectionan
invitingandeasypaththroughthesubject’smoderndevelopment.
Remarkable
Physicists
From Galileo to Yukawa
Ioan James
MathematicalInstitute,Oxford
cambridge university press
Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, São Paulo
Cambridge University Press
The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge cb2 2ru, UK
Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York
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© Ioan James 2004
This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provision of
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without the written permission of Cambridge University Press.
First published in print format 2004
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Contents
Preface pageix
Prologue xi
1 FromGalileotoDanielBernoulli 1
GalileoGalilei(1564–1642) 1
JohannesKepler(1571–1630) 8
ChristiaanHuygens(1629–1695) 16
IsaacNewton(1642–1726) 21
DanielBernoulli(1700–1782) 31
2 FromFranklintoLaplace 36
BenjaminFranklin(1706–1790) 36
RogerJosephBoscovich(1711–1787) 47
HenryCavendish(1731–1810) 56
CharlesAugustinCoulomb(1736–1806) 60
Pierre-SimonLaplace(1749–1827) 65
3 FromRumfordtoOersted 74
SirBenjaminThompson(CountRumford)(1753–1814) 74
Jean-BaptisteFourier(1768–1830) 85
ThomasYoung(1773–1829) 90
Andre´-MarieAmpe`re(1775–1836) 97
HansChristianOersted(1777–1851) 102
4 FromOhmtoHelmholtz 107
GeorgOhm(1789–1854) 107
MichaelFaraday(1791–1867) 112
GeorgeGreen(1793–1841) 119
JosephHenry(1797–1878) 125
HermannvonHelmholtz(1821–1894) 132
5 FromKelvintoBoltzmann 141
WilliamThomson(LordKelvinofLargs)(1824–1907) 141
vi Contents
JamesClerkMaxwell(1831–1879) 150
J.WillardGibbs(1839–1903) 157
JohnWilliamStrutt(LordRayleigh)(1842–1919) 163
LudwigBoltzmann(1844–1906) 168
6 FromRo¨ntgentoMarieCurie 177
WilhelmConradRo¨ntgen(1845–1923) 177
JosephJohnThomson(1856–1940) 183
MaxPlanck(1858–1947) 192
WilliamHenryBragg(1862–1942) 199
MarieCurie(1867–1934) 208
7 FromMillikantoEinstein 221
RobertMillikan(1868–1953) 221
ErnestRutherford(LordRutherford)(1871–1937) 227
LiseMeitner(1878–1968) 234
OttoHahn(1879–1968) 242
AlbertEinstein(1879–1955) 247
8 FromEhrenfesttoSchro¨dinger 259
PaulEhrenfest(1880–1933) 259
MaxBorn(1882–1970) 266
NielsBohr(1885–1962) 273
FrederickLindemann(LordCherwell)(1886–1957) 284
ErwinSchro¨dinger(1887–1961) 295
9 FromdeBroglietoFermi 307
LouisdeBroglie(1892–1987) 307
SatyendranathBose(1894–1974) 313
PiotrLeonidovichKapitza(1894–1984) 320
Jean-Fre´de´ricJoliot(1900–1958) 327
EnricoFermi(1901–1954) 335
10 FromHeisenbergtoYukawa 343
WernerHeisenberg(1901–1976) 343
PaulDirac(1902–1984) 353
Contents vii
J.RobertOppenheimer(1904–1967) 359
MariaGoeppert-Mayer(1906–1972) 364
HidekiYukawa(1907–1981) 369
Epilogue 375
FurtherReading 379
Collections 385
Acknowledgements 387
Preface
Thisbookisintendedforthosewhowouldliketoreadsomething,butnot
toomuch,aboutthelife-storiesofsomeofthemostremarkablephysicists
born between the middle of the sixteenth century and the first decade of
thetwentieth,aperiodofjustover350years.Therearefivesubjectsineach
of the ten chapters, making fifty profiles altogether. The subjects have all
made an important contribution to physics, through their ideas, through
their teaching, or in other ways. The emphasis is mainly on their varied
life-stories, not on the details of their achievements. By minimizing tech-
nicaldetail,Ihavebeenabletoconcentrateonarepresentativeselectionof
physicistswhoselivesseemtomeofspecialinterest.Thereaderwhowishes
formoredetailaboutthetechnicalitiescansoeasilyfinditelsewherethat
onlythebriefestofindicationsaregivenhere.
InwritingthisbookIhavehadinmindthereaderwhoisinterested
in physics but is not necessarily familiar with the history of the subject.
Thebiographiesarearrangedchronologicallybydateofbirth,sothatwhen
read in sequence they convey in human terms something of the way in
whichphysicsdeveloped.Eachoftheprofilesisillustratedbyaportraitof
thesubject,exceptforonecasewherenoneisknown.Asweshallsee,the
remarkable physicists of our period were a surprisingly diverse collection
of people. One thing that emerges clearly is that there is no such thing as
atypicalphysicist.Anystudentofphysicswhomightbelookingforarole
model will find some interesting possibilities. At the end I have tried to
drawsomegeneralconclusions.Ihavealsoprovidedsomesuggestionsfor
furtherreading.
My thanks are due to the many people who have helped me either
by reading parts of the text in draft and commenting or by dealing with
particular questions. Among them are Blemis Bleaney, David Brink, Sir
RogerElliott,DominicFlament,RobertFox,JohnRoche,PaoloSalvatore,
RosemaryStewart,DavidThomson, DavidTranah,andJohnTyrer.Asfar
aspossiblethesourcesoftheillustrationsandlongerquotationsaregiven
attheendofthebook.
MathematicalInstitute,
Oxford
April2003
