Hans Sallhofer – författare

Atomic theory began more than two and a half millenia ago in Greece and India; but scientific details have emerged — albeit very rapidly — only in our century. This book conveys a glimpse of the grandeur of 20th century physics through nine essays and one interview on the models and modelers of a basic element of matter: the hydrogen atom. The basic ideas are simply presented and illustrated, the mathematical treatments are of a tutorial nature, and facsimile reproductions of ten key papers are included. Using the simple hydrogen atom, educators may use this book to initiate high school students into the grandeur of physics or motivate university students to become science-literate.

The emergence of modern physics in the first three decades of the 20th century was accompanied by a loss of determinism. That loss is embodied in the Copenhagen interpretation and the theory of relativity. The development of physics-based technologies, both constructive and destructive, occurred shortly thereafter at so dizzying a rate that scientists rarely took a critical look at the logical foundations of the Copenhagen interpretation and the theory of relativity, or at the consequences of the loss of determinism.This book contains a dialogue between a physicist and a philosopher on that issue. The dialogue is strongly contextualized with respect to the main players in physics during the first sixty years of the 20th century, and to the prevailing political conditions in Western Europe and the USA. It was galvanized by the debate and the subsequent abandonment of the Superconducting Super Collider, and also affords a lively understanding of Greek epistemology. Questioned by the philosopher, the physicist provides an account of the directions taken by physicists and the roads not traveled, as well as his own understanding of the nature of matter.