History
of XX Century Physics| History
of XX Century Physics |
In General > s.a. history by
areas.
* Initial situation:
Physicists thought essentially everything was understood, with their theories
of matter and energy, electricity and magnetism,
heat,
sound, and light; A few small outstanding problems would be fixed soon,
like the failure to detect ether, the nature of X-rays, radioactivity,
and the black body.
* Overview: Radical changes
occurred in the structure of physical theories, due to special relativity and
quantum mechanics in the first 30 years, then due to our increased understanding
of
dynamical systems and complexity from the 1970s, and of the subatomic world;
Germany and then the US play prominent role in research.
* 1930, particle physics:
Matter is made of e, p, 
,
interacting by electromagnetic and gravitational forces.
* 1962, particle physics: Headline
makers are Chew, Mandelstam; Hot topics are bootstraps, N/D methods, strip
approximations.
* 2000, news: Discovery
of
tau;
Some evidence for quark-gluon plasma and Higgs boson; ...
Specific Countries, Institutions, and People > s.a. history
of physics [personal accounts].
@ Germany: Forman HSPS(71) [Weimar]; Castell & Ischebeck 03 [and von
Weizsäcker].
@ And Nazism: Beierchen 77 [science]; Powers 93 [the bomb]; Cornwell 03
[r pw(04)jan];
Cardona & Marx phy/04 [impact
on productivity].
@ USA: Gruner et al PT(95)dec.
@ Italy: Battimelli & Paoloni ed-98 [writings
by E Amaldi]; De Gregorio phy/05 [Roma
1930s].
@ Other countries: Brown & Nambu SA(98)dec [wartime Japan]; Miller HSPBS(99)
[post-Mao
China];
Holloway
HSPBS(99)
[Soviet Union].
@ Institutions: Regis 87 [IAS]; Phillips AJP(90)mar
[APS]; Lecuyer HSPS(92)
[MIT]; Crease 99 [BNL];
Roederer PT(01)sep,
De Greiff HSPBS(02)
[ICTP]; Westwick 03 [US national labs 1947–1974, r PT(04)jan];
Deken phy/03-in
[SLAC]; news pw(04)sep
[CERN's 50th]; pw(04)sep
[future]; Krige PT(04)sep
[Rabi and CERN]; Stratton & Mannix 05 [r PT(06)may];
Hoddeson et al 08 [Fermilab].
@ People: Ginzburg 01; Hargittai & Hargittai 04, 06 [interviews];
Giulini & Straumann phy/05 [Einstein];
Poenaru phy/05 [Proca];
Straumann a0810-in
[Pauli].
References > s.a. history of physics.
@ General: Weisskopf 72; Mehra 75; Weiner ed-77; Wheaton 84; Cohen 85;
de Maria et al ed-89; Gingerich 89; Sarlemijn & Sparnaay ed-89; in Coveney & Highfield
90, p67; Brown et al 95; Wheaton & Rider
[reference]; Crease & Mann
97; Adams 99 [I]; Kragh 99 [r pw(99)nov];
Suplee 99 [r PT(99)jun];
Pais 00; d’Agostino 00 [ideas in
theoretical physics]; Mehra 01; Peat 01; Sallhofer & Radharose 01; Bromley
02; Yang IJMPA(03)
[themes]; Staley Isis(05),
SHPSA(08) ["classical" and "modern"
physics]; Capri 07.
@ By years: Schewe PT(89)jan [1988].
@ And nuclear weapons: Serber 92; Hoddeson et al 93 [I]; Heisenberg
PT(95)aug
[1942 lecture]; Rhodes 95; Walker 95; Byers Cern(02)phy [1945];
Hurtado de Mendoza in(07)-a0706 [Einstein].
@ And XX cy politics: Josephson PT(88)sep; Hounshell HSPBS(97) [RAND];
Kojevnikov
HSPBS(02)
[Bohm, collectivist and socialist ideas].
"Our future discoveries must be looked for in the sixth place
of decimals" A Michelson, 1894
"As you know, physics will be finished within six months" M Born,
1928 (after the publication of the Dirac equation)
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nov 2009