Niels Bohr and the Quantum Atom

Abstract

The theory of atomic structure proposed by the young Danish physicist Niels Bohr in 1913 marked the true beginning of modern atomic and quantum physics. This is the first book that focuses in detail on the origin and development of this remarkable theory. It offers a comprehensive account of Bohr's ideas and the way they were modified by other physicists. By following the development and applications of the theory, it brings new insight into Bohr's peculiar way of thinking; what Einstein once called his 'musicality' and 'unique instinct and tact'. Contrary to most other accounts of the Bohr atom, the book presents it in a broader perspective, which includes the reception among other scientists, popular expositions of the theory, and the objections raised against it by scientists of a more conservative inclination. Moreover, it discusses the theory as Bohr originally conceived it, namely, as an ambitious attempt to understand the structure of atoms as well as molecules: the chemical aspects of the theory are given much attention. The book covers the successes as well as the failures of Bohr's theory, arguing that the latter were no less important in the process that led Bohr to abandon the original model and Heisenberg to propose a new 'quantum mechanics'. By discussing the theory in its entirety—following it from its birth in 1913, through its adolescence round 1918, to its decline in 1924—it becomes possible to understand its development and use it as an example of the dynamics of scientific theories.

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