Customer Reviews

Night Thoughts of a Classical Physicist

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Did you know that before quantum physics or atomic physics, classical physics maintained that there was a world ether through which light waves traveled? I had no idea what the struggle this old physicist was having because I did't even know that what he was losing had ever existed. However, I learned a lot, not only about the history of physics, but about a German scientist's view of science and his home land. If you would like a challenge, try this one, but don't take it to the beach.

Victor Jakob, an aging German physicist in 1918 faces the destruction of Germany after World War I, but even more, tries to salvage something from the realization that his life's work has been in vain. He realizes that his personal search for the world-ether has been as hopeless as the Reich's effort at domination. After a century of living with the implications of quantum mechanics and general relativity, and in a time when string theory attempts to explain it all, it's difficult to understand the unsettling options that bewildered physicists at the turn of the century
<<<<At one and the same time Jakob might be studying Helmholtz's derivation of the basic differ3ential equations of physics from a common least-action principle; Hertz's reformulation of the principles of mechanics ...; Boltzmann's universal atomism; Mach;'s phenomenological and Ostwald's energetic foundations of physical science along with their denials of atoms, forces, and mechanical explanations as the proper approach for understanding the physical world... Temporarily swept along by the vogue of viewing energy as the sole reality, he was soon brought to his senses by Planck and Boltzmann, whose writings showed him that the energists were hopelessly confused on physics and that they threatened to mislead young physicists into believing in a royal road to discovery.>>>>
An interesting analogy is given by the old physicist, which takes even greater relevance with the discoveries in superstring theory that emerged after this book was written:
<<<<They would remember that mathematical physics began with music and the Greeks, with Pythagoras. Mathematical physics long ago separated off from music but the original inspiration of music to scientific thought persisted. Without it, he told them, Kepler wouldn't have discovered the harmonies of the planetary world on which Newton's work and with it all of modern physics rested. So if they reflected on t for a moment, they would see that without music and thee exact way of thinking about the world it inspired, this physical institute wouldn't be here, and neither would he or they.>>>>
This novel is sadly lyric and brings together musings on many fundamental themes.

I recommend this book to anybody interested in science issues, particularly if (s)he happens to be a physicist or a student of the relationships between science, technology and society. While presented as a work of fiction, the scholarship backing the text is rock solid. I myself am a physicist, and the thing that surprised me most is how debates that are usually thought as begun after WWII were well under way even before the Great War, such as the relationship of science to the state, and particularly to the state's war machine. The larger view of life in Germany during the Great War, which the reader will necessarily relate to the later rise of Hitler, is chilling.
The book also provides a warm and informed view of (now) lesser known figures, particularly Paul Drude. I believe reading this book will affect the way I teach electromagnetism and quantum physics in the future.

The setting for this book - Germany around the turn of the 20th century - and the title promise a fascinating insight into the most dramatic decades in pre-quantum physics. The professional reviews are fulsome in their praise.

However, the book is largely a pacifist polemic, which may have influenced the reviewers favorably. Beyond that, most of the author's interest is focused on the quirks and bureaucratic aspects of German academia, and the inevitable disappointments of old age. That part is well done.

Unfortunately, there is precious little physics in this book. Virtually none, in fact, and what there is is entirely superficial. That's a shame, and a great opportunity missed.

Perhaps the reviewers were also influenced by the pseudo-historical approach. I believe this book is one of the early examples in which historical scientists were woven into a frankly fictional account of what might have happened.