Atomic Physics and Human Knowledge

by Niels Bohr

Overview

These essays and speeches by the Nobel Prize–winning physicist date from 1934 to 1958. Rather than expositions on quantum physics, the articles are philosophical in nature, exploring the relevance of atomic physics to many areas of human endeavor. Topics include light and life, biology and atomic physics, natural philosophy and human cultures, unity of knowledge, atoms and human knowledge, and physical science and the problem of life. An essay in which Bohr and Einstein discuss determinism in quantum theory and the future of the wave equation theory is of particular note. 1961 edition.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780486479286
Publisher:	Dover Publications
Publication date:	11/18/2010
Series:	Dover Books on Physics
Pages:	112
Sales rank:	628,299
Product dimensions:	5.30(w) x 8.40(h) x 0.40(d)

About the Author

Danish physicist Niels Bohr (1865-1962) contributed to the understanding of atomic structure and quantum mechanics, for which he received the 1922 Nobel Prize in Physics. An integral part of the team of scientists who worked on the Manhattan Project, Bohr afterward advocated for the peaceful use of nuclear energy.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

Light And Life 3

Address at the opening meeting of the International Congress on Light Therapy in Copenhagen, August 1932. Printed in Nature, 131, 421 (1933).

Biology And Atomic Physics 13

Address at the Physical and Biological Congress in memory of Luigi Galvani, Bologna, October 1937.

Natural Philosophy And Human Cultures 23

Address at the International Congress of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences in Copenhagen, delivered at a meeting in Kronborg Castle, Elsinore, August 1938. Printed in Nature, 143, 268 (1939).

Discussion With Einstein On Epistemological Problems In Atomic Physics 32

Contribution to Albert Einstein: Philosopher-Scientist. The Library of Living Philosophers, Inc., Evanston, Illinois, vol. 7, 1949, p. 199.

Unity Of Knowledge 67

Address delivered at a conference in October 1954 in connection with the Bicentennial of Columbia University, New York. Printed in The Unity of Knowledge, Doubleday and Co., New York, 1955, p. 47.

Atoms And Human Knowledge 83

Address delivered at a meeting of the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences in Copenhagen, October 1955.

Physical Science And The Problem Of Life 94

Article completed in 1957 and based on a Steno Lecture in the Danish Medical Society, Copenhagen, February 1949.