Niels Bohr and the Quantum Atom: The Bohr Model of Atomic Structure 1913-1925

by Helge Kragh

Overview

Niels Bohr and the Quantum Atom is the first book that focuses in detail on the birth and development of Bohr's atomic theory and gives a comprehensive picture of it. At the same time it offers new insight into Bohr's peculiar way of thinking, what Einstein once called his 'unique instinct and tact'. Contrary to most other accounts of the Bohr atom, the book presents it in a broader perspective which includes the reception among other scientists and the criticism launched against it by scientists of a more conservative inclination. Moreover, it discusses the theory as Bohr originally conceived it, namely, as an ambitious theory covering the structure of atoms as well as molecules. By discussing the theory in its entirety it becomes possible to understand why it developed as it did and thereby to use it as an example of the dynamics of scientific theories.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780191630460
Publisher:	OUP Oxford
Publication date:	05/03/2012
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	22 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

After graduation from the University of Copenhagen in physics and chemistry, and a period as a high school teacher, Helge Kragh became Associate Professor at Cornell University, Departments of History and Physics. Later, he took positions as Curator at the Steno Museum for Science and Medicine and Professor of the History of Science at the University of Oslo. Since 1997, he has been Professor of the History of Science and Technology at Aarhus University, Denmark. He is a member of the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters, the International Academy for History of Science, and the European Academy of Science. From 2008-2010, he was President of the European Society for History of Science.

Table of Contents

Preface iv

1 Atomic Theories Before 1913 1

2 On the Constitution of Atoms and Molecules 39

3 Reception and Early Developments 90

4 The Bohr-Sommerfeld Theory 140

5 A Magic Wand 189

6 Molecules and Other Failures 226

7 A Theory of the Chemical Elements 271

8 Crisis: The End of the Bohr Model 313

9 Appendix: The Philosophers' Atom 364

Bibliography 371

Index 403