Haphazard Reality: Half a Century of Science
"An outstanding scientific autobiography... I remain impressed by its thoughtfulness and charm." — Steve K. Lamoreaux, American Journal of Physics

"[A] rich autobiography and history-of-atomic-physics... One is impressed by Casimir's memory for detail and zeal to find corroboration for the stories he tells. And they are splendid tales: Gamow's playful pranks in Copenhagen: conversations with Lev Landau, ardent revolutionary but no Marxist; the tragedy of Ehrenfest, who killed himself after shooting his hopelessly retarded son... A charming, idiosyncratic, and meaningful account of events and personalities that changed physics." — Kirkus

"I myself read [this book] with fascination, meeting old friends such as Gamow, Landau, Kramers, and learning much more about them... Also in the book are character sketches of those who made physics in the Netherlands such as Lorentz, Kamerlingh Onnes and Ehrenfest, the latter remembered with the greatest affection by the author." — Sir Nevill Mott, Contemporary Physics

"The book... contains a valuable, entertaining and insightful collection of vignettes of many of the physicists Casimir has associated with[,]... Lorentz, Ehrenfest, Bohr, Pauli, with whom he studied; Goudsmit, Uhlenbeck, Landau, Gamov, members of his own generation; Kramers, Gorter, de Haas, colleagues in Dutch academic circles; Holst and Loupart, colleagues at the Philips Laboratories. Haphazard Reality also offers valuable insights into Dutch middle class culture and a rewarding overview of Dutch educational and scientific establishments... Casimir is a master at deftly and sensitively conveying the psychological ambiance of his surroundings. His description of the brilliant young theoretical physicists around Bohr in the early thirties conveys not only the style of doing physics but also delineates the issues addressed by outlining the content of their researches." — S. S. Schweber, 4S Review

"Engaging reminiscences by an important Dutch physicist of conversations with the major contributors to 20th-century physics. An overly modest, but otherwise balanced account of his own experiences and contributions from his early years at Leiden to his directorship of the Philips Laboratory." — The Antioch Review

"Haphazard Reality paints a vivid and insightful picture of the development of modern physics." — Steve K. Lamoreaux, Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society
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Haphazard Reality: Half a Century of Science
"An outstanding scientific autobiography... I remain impressed by its thoughtfulness and charm." — Steve K. Lamoreaux, American Journal of Physics

"[A] rich autobiography and history-of-atomic-physics... One is impressed by Casimir's memory for detail and zeal to find corroboration for the stories he tells. And they are splendid tales: Gamow's playful pranks in Copenhagen: conversations with Lev Landau, ardent revolutionary but no Marxist; the tragedy of Ehrenfest, who killed himself after shooting his hopelessly retarded son... A charming, idiosyncratic, and meaningful account of events and personalities that changed physics." — Kirkus

"I myself read [this book] with fascination, meeting old friends such as Gamow, Landau, Kramers, and learning much more about them... Also in the book are character sketches of those who made physics in the Netherlands such as Lorentz, Kamerlingh Onnes and Ehrenfest, the latter remembered with the greatest affection by the author." — Sir Nevill Mott, Contemporary Physics

"The book... contains a valuable, entertaining and insightful collection of vignettes of many of the physicists Casimir has associated with[,]... Lorentz, Ehrenfest, Bohr, Pauli, with whom he studied; Goudsmit, Uhlenbeck, Landau, Gamov, members of his own generation; Kramers, Gorter, de Haas, colleagues in Dutch academic circles; Holst and Loupart, colleagues at the Philips Laboratories. Haphazard Reality also offers valuable insights into Dutch middle class culture and a rewarding overview of Dutch educational and scientific establishments... Casimir is a master at deftly and sensitively conveying the psychological ambiance of his surroundings. His description of the brilliant young theoretical physicists around Bohr in the early thirties conveys not only the style of doing physics but also delineates the issues addressed by outlining the content of their researches." — S. S. Schweber, 4S Review

"Engaging reminiscences by an important Dutch physicist of conversations with the major contributors to 20th-century physics. An overly modest, but otherwise balanced account of his own experiences and contributions from his early years at Leiden to his directorship of the Philips Laboratory." — The Antioch Review

"Haphazard Reality paints a vivid and insightful picture of the development of modern physics." — Steve K. Lamoreaux, Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society
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Haphazard Reality: Half a Century of Science

Haphazard Reality: Half a Century of Science

by Hendrik B.G. Casimir
Haphazard Reality: Half a Century of Science

Haphazard Reality: Half a Century of Science

by Hendrik B.G. Casimir

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Overview

"An outstanding scientific autobiography... I remain impressed by its thoughtfulness and charm." — Steve K. Lamoreaux, American Journal of Physics

"[A] rich autobiography and history-of-atomic-physics... One is impressed by Casimir's memory for detail and zeal to find corroboration for the stories he tells. And they are splendid tales: Gamow's playful pranks in Copenhagen: conversations with Lev Landau, ardent revolutionary but no Marxist; the tragedy of Ehrenfest, who killed himself after shooting his hopelessly retarded son... A charming, idiosyncratic, and meaningful account of events and personalities that changed physics." — Kirkus

"I myself read [this book] with fascination, meeting old friends such as Gamow, Landau, Kramers, and learning much more about them... Also in the book are character sketches of those who made physics in the Netherlands such as Lorentz, Kamerlingh Onnes and Ehrenfest, the latter remembered with the greatest affection by the author." — Sir Nevill Mott, Contemporary Physics

"The book... contains a valuable, entertaining and insightful collection of vignettes of many of the physicists Casimir has associated with[,]... Lorentz, Ehrenfest, Bohr, Pauli, with whom he studied; Goudsmit, Uhlenbeck, Landau, Gamov, members of his own generation; Kramers, Gorter, de Haas, colleagues in Dutch academic circles; Holst and Loupart, colleagues at the Philips Laboratories. Haphazard Reality also offers valuable insights into Dutch middle class culture and a rewarding overview of Dutch educational and scientific establishments... Casimir is a master at deftly and sensitively conveying the psychological ambiance of his surroundings. His description of the brilliant young theoretical physicists around Bohr in the early thirties conveys not only the style of doing physics but also delineates the issues addressed by outlining the content of their researches." — S. S. Schweber, 4S Review

"Engaging reminiscences by an important Dutch physicist of conversations with the major contributors to 20th-century physics. An overly modest, but otherwise balanced account of his own experiences and contributions from his early years at Leiden to his directorship of the Philips Laboratory." — The Antioch Review

"Haphazard Reality paints a vivid and insightful picture of the development of modern physics." — Steve K. Lamoreaux, Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society

Product Details

BN ID: 2940162904069
Publisher: Plunkett Lake Press
Publication date: 09/23/2020
Sold by: Barnes & Noble
Format: eBook
File size: 720 KB

About the Author

Born in The Hague, Hendrik Brugt Gerhard Casimir (1909-2000), a Dutch physicist best known for his research on the two-fluid model of superconductors (1934) and the Casimir effect (1948), studied theoretical physics at the University of Leiden under Paul Ehrenfest, where he received his PhD in 1931 for work on the quantum mechanics of a rigid spinning body and the group theory of the rotations of molecules. During that time he also spent time in Copenhagen with Niels Bohr.

After receiving his PhD he worked as an assistant to Wolfgang Pauli at ETH Zürich. In 1938, he became professor of physics at Leiden University. In 1942, during World War II, Casimir moved to the Philips Natuurkundig Laboratorium (or Physics Laboratory, NatLab) in Eindhoven where he remained an active scientist until becoming co-director of the NatLab in 1946 and a member of Philips's board of directors in 1956. Casimir retired from Philips in 1972.

Although Casimir spent much of his professional life in industry, his contributions to science from 1931 to 1950 include: pure mathematics, Lie groups (1931); hyperfine structure, calculation of nuclear quadrupole moments, (1935); low temperature physics, magnetism, thermodynamics of superconductors, paramagnetic relaxation (1935-1942); applications of Onsager's theory of irreversible phenomena (1942-1950). Casimir helped found the European Physical Society of which he became president (1972-1975). In 1979 he was one of the key speakers at CERN's 25th anniversary celebrations. In 1946 Casimir became a member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences.

While at Philips NatLab in 1948, Casimir, collaborating with Dirk Polder, predicted the quantum mechanical attraction between conducting plates now known as the Casimir effect, which is important in Micro Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS). He was awarded six honorary doctor degrees by universities outside the Netherlands and received numerous awards and prizes, including the IRI Medal from the Industrial Research Institute in 1976. He was a Foreign Associate of the National Academy of Engineering.
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