SOLVAY SCIENCE PROJECT AND THE FIRST QUANTUM REVOLUTION, THE

This book presents a historical reconstruction of the first quantum revolution, from the first Solvay meeting (1911) to the fifth Physics Council (1927). The reader is guided through a journey to discover how a project envisioned by Ernest Solvay — the Solvay Science Project — contributed to this process.

The authors investigate two of its main aspects: the five Physics Councils chaired by H A Lorentz and the subsidy programme of the International Solvay Institute of Physics (ISIP). Special attention is given to a point that escaped the attention of most science historians: how Solvay subsidies, granted by an International Committee, contributed to the validation of Bohr's atomic theory, one of the most significant steps in the quantum revolution. More than ten beneficiaries of Solvay grants were named by Bohr in his Rutherford Memorial Lecture; six were awarded a Nobel Prize.

The book contains a detailed analysis of the steps taken by ISIP's Scientific Committee to prepare the Councils that marked the transition from classical to quantum physics. Emphasis is placed on the information provided by X-ray research and by C T R Wilson's cloud chamber, two elements that paved the way to a recognition of the dual nature of light and matter, a fundamental characteristic of the quantum world.

Contents:

• Foreword
• Introduction
• Early Solvay Councils (1911–1913) and Subsidy Programme of the International Physics Institute (ISIP):
  • Solvay I (1911): The Theory of Radiation and Quanta
  • The International Physics Institute
  • Towards a Second Physics Council: The First Subsidies
  • Bohr and Atomic Structure
  • Solvay II (1913): The Structure of Matter
  • Solvay Grants: November 1912–July 1914
• Post-War Councils (1921–1927) and the Completion of Quantum Mechanics:
  • Applications and Extensions of Bohr's Atomic Theory
  • The International Solvay Physics Institute after WWI
  • Solvay III (1921): Atoms and Electrons
  • Origin of the Compton effect
  • Solvay IV (1924): Electric Conductivity in Metals
  • The 'Heisenberg Line' of Research
  • Towards Solvay V
  • Update of the Council's Agenda
  • Solvay V (1927): Electrons and Photons
• Epilogue
• Acknowledgements
• Appendix A: Joffé's Memories of Solvay IV
• Appendix B: Pais about Bohr, Compton and the BKS Proposal
• Appendix C: The Wilson 'Cloud Chamber'
• Appendix D: Excerpt from Siegbahn's Nobel Presentation Speech (December 10, 1927)

Readership: The target readership is represented by historians of science and physicists interested in history (academia). The book could also be used as tool for a graduate course in history of physics or suggested as complementary reading for a course in history of international organizations.