Boltzmanns Atom
The Great Debate That Launched A Revolution In Physics
David Lindley
- In
- 1900
- many
- eminent
- scientists
- did
- not
- believe
- atoms
- existed,
- yet
- within
- just
- a
- few
- years
- the
- atomic
- century
- launched
- into
- history
- with
- an
- astonishing
- string
- of
- breakthroughs
- in
- physics
- that
- began
- with
- Albert
- Einstein
- and
- continues
- to
- this
- day.
- Before
- this
- explosive
- growth
- into
- the
- modern
- age
- took
- place,
- an
- all-but-forgotten
- genius
- strove
- for
- forty
- years
- to
- win
- acceptance
- for
- the
- atomic
- theory
- of
- matter
- and
- an
- altogether
- new
- way
- of
- doing
- physics.
- Ludwig
- Boltz-mann
- battled
- with
- philosophers,
- the
- scientific
- establishment,
- and
- his
- own
- potent
- demons.
- His
- victory
- led
- the
- way
- to
- the
- greatest
- scientific
- achievements
- of
- the
- twentieth
- century.Now
- acclaimed
- science
- writer
- David
- Lindley
- portrays
- the
- dramatic
- story
- of
- Boltzmann
- and
- his
- embrace
- of
- the
- atom,
- while
- providing
- a
- window
- on
- the
- civilized
- world
- that
- gave
- birth
- to
- our
- scientific
- era.
- Boltzmann
- emerges
- as
- an
- endearingly
- quixotic
- character,
- passionately
- inspired
- by
- Beethoven,
- who
- muddled
- through
- the
- practical
- matters
- of
- life
- in
- a
- European
- gilded
- age.Boltzmann's
- story
- reaches
- from
- fin
- de
- siècle
- Vienna,
- across
- Germany
- and
- Britain,
- to
- America.
- As
- the
- Habsburg
- Empire
- was
- crumbling,
- Germany's
- intellectual
- might
- was
- growing;
- Edinburgh
- in
- Scotland
- was
- one
- of
- the
- most
- intellectually
- fertile
- places
- on
- earth;
- and,
- in
- America,
- brilliant
- independent
- minds
- were
- beginning
- to
- draw
- on
- the
- best
- ideas
- of
- the
- bureaucratized
- old
- world.Boltzmann's
- nemesis
- in
- the
- field
- of
- theoretical
- physics
- at
- home
- in
- Austria
- was
- Ernst
- Mach,
- noted
- today
- in
- the
- term
- Mach
- I,
- the
- speed
- of
- sound.
- Mach
- believed
- physics
- should
- address
- only
- that
- which
- could
- be
- directly
- observed.
- How
- could
- we
- know
- that
- frisky
- atoms
- jiggling
- about
- corresponded
- to
- heat
- if
- we
- couldn't
- see
- them?
- Why
- should
- we
- bother
- with
- theories
- that
- only
- told
- us
- what
- would
- probably
- happen,
- rather
- than
- making
- an
- absolute
- prediction?
- Mach
- and
- Boltzmann
- both
- believed
- in
- the
- power
- of
- science,
- but
- their
- approaches
- to
- physics
- could
- not
- have
- been
- more
- opposed.
- Boltzmann
- sought
- to
- explain
- the
- real
- world,
- and
- cast
- aside
- any
- philosophical
- criteria.
- Mach,
- along
- with
- many
- nineteenth-century
- scientists,
- wanted
- to
- construct
- an
- empirical
- edifice
- of
- absolute
- truths
- that
- obeyed
- strict
- philosophical
- rules.
- Boltzmann
- did
- not
- get
- on
- well
- with
- authority
- in
- any
- form,
- and
- he
- did
- his
- best
- work
- at
- arm's
- length
- from
- it.
- When
- at
- the
- end
- of
- his
- career
- he
- engaged
- with
- the
- philosophical
- authorities
- in
- the
- Viennese
- academy,
- the
- results
- were
- personally
- disastrous
- and
- tragic.
- Yet
- Boltzmann's
- enduring
- legacy
- lives
- on
- in
- the
- new
- physics
- and
- technology
- of
- our
- wired
- world.Lindley's
- elegant
- telling
- of
- this
- tale
- combines
- the
- detailed
- breadth
- of
- the
- best
- history,
- the
- beauty
- of
- theoretical
- physics,
- and
- the
- psychological
- insight
- belonging
- to
- the
- finest
- of novels.
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