Arnold Sommerfeld

Arnold Sommerfeld (1868-1951) belongs with Max Planck (1858-1947), Albert Einstein (1879-1955) and Niels Bohr (1885-1962) among the founders of modern theoretical physics, a science that developed into a budding discipline during his lifetime. Sommerfeld witnessed many of the most dramatic scientific, cultural and political events of this era. His correspondence with his family offers a vivid testament to the challenges and joys of a life in science.

This biography attempts to reconstruct Sommerfeld's life and work not only from the perspective of his achievements in theoretical physics but also with the goal of portraying the career of a scientist within the social and political environment in which it evolved. It is based to a large extent on Sommerfeld's voluminous correspondence, which sheds light both on his private and scientific life. Furthermore, it provides an authentic view on the circumstances that shaped Sommerfeld's career in different places - Königsberg, Göttingen, Clausthal, Aachen, Munich - and in different institutional and disciplinary settings - mineralogy, mathematics, engineering, physics. Although this biography is not a study of Sommerfeld's school, it also renders transparent what made this group of physicists so unique and gave its founder the aura of a charismatic teacher. This becomes particularly evident in the reverence with which he was received by his hosts during his travels all over the world - travels that Sommerfeld perceived as cultural missions. International politics, personal zeal and scientific interests became closely entangled at such occasions. Such an entanglement is by no means uncommon in the history of science - but it is rarely observed so persistently as in Sommerfeld's case.

Auteur

Michael Eckert studied physics at the Technical University of Munich and received his Ph.D in theoretical physics from the University of Bayreuth in 1979. He has dedicated his career to the history of physics.

Since 1981, Dr. Eckert has been engaged in several projects on the history of modern physics at the Deutsches Museum, Munich. He has authored and co-authored books and articles on such diverse specialties as the history of solid state physics, plasma physics, and fluid dynamics. This biography is the culmination of a long historical research endeavor on Arnold Sommerfeld at the Deutsches Museum that has included the editing of Sommerfeld's scientific correspondence in two volumes (2000 and 2004).

Résumé
The subject of the book is a biography of the theoretical physicist Arnold Sommerfeld (1868-1951). Although Sommerfeld is famous as a quantum theorist for the elaboration of the semi-classical atomic theory (Bohr-Sommerfeld model, Sommerfeld's fine-structure constant), his role in the history of modern physics is not confined to atoms and quanta.
Sommerfeld left his mark in the history of mathematics, fluid mechanics, a number of physical subdisciplines and, in particular, as founder of a most productive "school" (Peter Debye, Wolfgang Pauli, Werner Heisenberg, Linus Pauling and Hans Bethe were his pupils, to name only the Nobel laureates among them). This biography is to a large extent based on primary source material (correspondence, diaries, unpublished manuscripts). It should be of particular interest to students who are keen to know more about the historical roots of modern science.
Sommerfeld lived through turbulent times of German history (Wilhelmian Empire, Weimar Republic, Nazi period). His life, therefore, illustrates how science and scientists perform in changing social environments. From this perspective, the biography should also attract readers with a general interest in the history of science and technology.

Contenu
Prologue.- Königsberg Roots.- Setting the Course.- Klein's Assistant.- Clausthal.- Aachen.- Munich.- Physics in War and Peace.- The Quantum Pope.- Wave Mechanics.- Cultural Ambassador.- Descent.- The Bitter Years.- Carrying On.- Legacy.- Epilogue.- Backmatter.