Oral history interview with Peter J. W. Debye, 1962 May 3 and 4.

ArchivalResource

Oral history interview with Peter J. W. Debye, 1962 May 3 and 4.

Part of the Archives for the History of Quantum Physics collection, which includes tapes and transcripts of oral history interviews conducted with ca. 100 atomic and quantum physicists. Subjects discuss their family backgrounds, how they became interested in physics, their educations, people who influenced them, their careers including social influences on the conditions of research, and the state of atomic, nuclear, and quantum physics during the period in which they worked. Discussions of scientific matters relate to work that was done between approximately 1900 and 1930, with an emphasis on the discovery and interpretations of quantum mechanics in the 1920s. Also prominently mentioned are: Niels Henrik David Bohr, Max Born, Léon Brillouin, Louis de Broglie, Hendrik Brugt Gerhard Casimir, Paul Drude, Paul Ehrenfest, Albert Einstein, Walter Friedrich, Dirk ter Haar, Fritz Hasenöhrl, Werner Heisenberg, David Hilbert, Heinz Hopf, Herman Julius, Felix Klein, A. Kleiner, Paul Langevin, Max Theodor Felix von Laue, Fritz London, Gustav Mie, Walther Nernst, A. A. Noyes, Max Planck, W.C. Röntgen, Paul Scherrer, Erwin Schrödinger, Arnold Sommerfeld, Pierre Weiss, Max Wien, Wilhelm Wien, Zangger, Zermelo; Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zurich, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Universität Leipzig, and Universität München.

Transcript, 65 pp.

Information

SNAC Resource ID: 8218258

Related Entities

There are 27 Entities related to this resource.

Universität München.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w63881kk (corporateBody)

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6sv8d0k (corporateBody)

The Department of General Studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) did not officially exist until 1882. Courses in general studies were offered as early as 1865, when the MIT Catalog offered a curriculum option called the Course in Science and Literature. At that time, all regular MIT students were required to take “general studies” classes from the Course in Science and Literature, in addition to English, history, and modern languages. In 1882 the Course in Scienc...

Bohr, Niels, 1885-1962

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Niels Bohr was a Danish physicist who made tremendous contributions to his field, transforming accepted notions of atomic structure, helping to develop nuclear fission, and advocating for international cooperation in crafting responsible nuclear policy. Bohr was born in Copenhagen in 1885 into a family that encouraged his academic pursuits. Christian Bohr, his father, was professor of physiology at the University of Copenhagen. Bohr credited his father for awakening hi...

Laue, Max ˜vonœ 1879-1960

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Major affiliations include: Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany, 1905-1909, 1919-1943; Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, Germany, 1909-1912; Universität Frankfurt-am-Main (later Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Universität Frankfurt), Frankkfurt-am-Main, Germany, 1914-1919; Fritz-Haber-Institut der Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, Berlin, Germany, 1951-1960. From the description of Papers. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 122521272 Physicist. Major affi...

Kuhn, Thomas S.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6sx6g8x (person)

Brillouin, Léon, 1889-1969

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6p84dwx (person)

Physicist (theoretical physics, quantum theory, electromagnetic waves). On physics faculty at Collège de France, 1932-1939, and Harvard University, 1946-1949; general director, French National Broadcasting System, 1939-1940; director of research, Watson Laboratory, International Business Machines Corporation, 1949-1954. From the description of Papers, 1877-1972. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 80490114 Died in 1967. From the description of Oral history interview ...

Universität Leipzig.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6938t7r (corporateBody)

Center for History of Physics (American Institute of Physics)

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This oral history project was undertaken by the Center for History of Physics of the American Institute of Physics, beginning in about 1976. The American Philosophical Society Library is a designated repository for the archive, which includes photocopies of typed manuscripts of the interviews, and microfilm and microfiche of certain manuscript collections of astrophysicists. These include the papers of Robert D'E Atkinson, Seth Chandler, Theodore Dunham [The American Philosophical Society has re...

Ehrenfest, Paul, 1880-1933

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Nuclear physicist (statistical mechanics, applied quantum physics). On the physics faculty at Universität Wein (1900-1904); on the staff of Petrogradskii politeknicheskii (1907-1912); and on the physics faculty at Rijksuniversiteit te Leiden (1912-1933). From the description of Papers, 1902-1933. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 79973171 ...

Uhlenbeck, George Eugène, 1900-1988

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Physicist, professor of physics at the University of Michigan and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. From the description of George Eugène Uhlenbeck papers, 1918-1981 (bulk 1925-1970). (University of Michigan). WorldCat record id: 84045021 From the description of George Eugène Uhlenbeck papers, 1918-1981 (bulk 1925-1970). (University of Michigan). WorldCat record id: 34420120 George Eugène Uhlenbeck was born on 6 December 1900, in Batavia, Jav...

Einstein, Albert, 1879-1955

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Albert Einstein was born at Ulm, in Württemberg, Germany, on March 14, 1879. Six weeks later the family moved to Munich, where he later on began his schooling at the Luitpold Gymnasium. Later, they moved to Italy and Albert continued his education at Aarau, Switzerland and in 1896 he entered the Swiss Federal Polytechnic School in Zurich to be trained as a teacher in physics and mathematics. In 1901, the year he gained his diploma, he acquired Swiss citizenship and, as he was...

Langevin, Paul, 1872-1946

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Physicist (Sonar science, molecular structure, magnetic theory, relativity) and administrator. On the physics faculty at Université de Paris (1898-1902); Collège de France (1902-1940); and Ecole de physique et chimie [industrielles] (1905-1926), director (1926-1940). From the description of Papers. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 77594568 ...

Röntgen, Wilhelm Conrad, 1845-1923

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Scientist; discoverer of X-rays. From the description of Autograph letter signed : Munich, to an unidentified colleague, 1912 July 1. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 270656349 German physicist. From the description of Papers. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 82798817 German scientist Roentgen discovered the existence and capabilities of x-rays during experiments in 1895. Fundamental contributions are his first articles describing x-rays. For his work, Roent...

Broglie, Louis ˜deœ 1892-1987

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Died in 1987. From the description of Oral history interview with Louis de Broglie, 1963 January 7 and 14. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 79715925 French physicist (quantum theory, wave mechanics) and administrator. On the science faculty at Université de Paris (1926-1962); and director, Institut Henri Poincaré from 1932. He died in 1985. From the description of Papers, 1919-1978. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 82798029 ...

Debye, Peter J. W. (Peter Josef William), 1884-1966

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6ms3tzz (person)

Physical chemist (molecular structure, quantum theory, magnetism, polymers). On the physics faculty at Georg-August Universität zu Göttingen, 1913-1920; on the staff at Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule, Zurich, 1910-1927; on the faculty at Universität Leipzig, 1927-1934; director, Kaiser-Wilhelm Institut für Physik, 1935-1939; and professor and chair of the chemistry department, Cornell University from 1940. Died 1966. From the description of Holograph student notes, 1901, a...

Nernst, Walther, 1864-1941

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Physicist. Major affiliations inclulde: Georg-August Universität zu Göttingen, Gottingen, Germany, 1891-1905; Physikalisch-Technische Reichsanstalt, Berlin, 1922-1924; and Universität Berlin, 1925-1933. From the description of Thermodynamische Behandlung einiger des Wassers, Teil 1: scientific notes, 1909. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 81474006 ...

Heisenberg, Werner, 1901-1976

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Physicist (quantum theory, quantum mechanics, uncertainty principle, unified field theory) and administrator. On the physic faculty at Universität Göttingen (1923-1924, 1925-1926); Kovenhavens Universitet (1924-1925, 1926-1927); Universität Leipzig (1927-1941); director, Kaiser-Wilhelm Institut für Physik (1941-1945); director, Max-Planck Institut für Physik (1946-1958); and director, Max-Planck Institut für Physik und Astrophysik (1958-1970). From the description of Papers. (U...

Casimir, H.B.G. (Hendrik Brugt Gerhard), 1909-2000

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Physicist. Major affiliations include: Rijksuniversiteit te Leiden, Leiden, Netherlands, 1931-1932, 1933-1942; and Eidgenossiche Technische Hochschule, Zurich, Switzerland, 1932-1933. From the description of The concept of energy: a speech; and a statement explaining an integer game played by physicists at the Universität Göttingen in 1929, 1972-1975. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 83622742 ...

Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich.

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Born, Max, 1882-1970

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Physicist (solid state physics, quantum mechanics, lattice dynamics, wave functions, molecules). On the physics faculty at Universität Göttingen (1908-1914, 1921-1933); Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Berlin (1914-1919); and University of Edinburgh (1936-1956). From the description of Lecture notebooks, 1905-1937. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 79287462 From the description of Papers, ca. 1945-1970. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 77749891 From the description of P...

Hilbert, David, 1862-1943

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German mathematician and professor, who discovered or developed a broad range of fundamental ideas in many areas of mathematics, including invariant theory and the axiomatization of geometry. He also formulated the theory of "Hilbert spaces," one of the foundations of functional analysis. He is also one of the founders of proof theory. For many years, he held a position at the Mathematical Institute at the University of Göttingen. From the description of Vorlesungen über die Funkti...

Planck, Max, 1858-1947

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Physicist Max Planck authored the quantum theory. From the guide to the Max Planck correspondence, 1919-1948, 1919-1948, (American Philosophical Society) German physicist. From the description of Autograph letter signed : Berlin-Grunewald, to Artur Neuberg, 1939 Nov. 10. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 270872119 Max Planck was a physicist and the author of the quantum theory. Received Nobel prize in Physics (1918). Involvement with the Kaiser-Wilhelm Soci...

Sommerfeld, Arnold, 1868-1951

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6dn466s (person)

Physicist (mathematical physics, atomic physics, theoretical physics, wave mechanics, quantum mechanics). On the mineralogy faculty at Georg-August Universität zu Göttingen (1893-1897); on the mathematics faculty at Technische Universität Clausthal (1897-1900); on the mechanics faculty at the Technische Hochschule zu Aachen (1900-1906); and on the physics faculty at Universität München from 1906. From the description of Papers, ("New" Sommerfeld Nachlass), ca. 1890-ca. 1950. (Un...

Friedrich, Walter, 1883-1968

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Zermelo, Ernst, 1871-1953

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London, Fritz, 1900-1954

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Schrödinger, Erwin, 1887-1961

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Physicist; professor at the University of Zurich, Berlin, Oxford, Graz, Dublin, and Vienna. From the description of Collection of Irmgard Bertel. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 80362499 Physicist. Professor at the Universities of Zürich, Berlin, Oxford, Dublin, Graz, and Vienna. From the description of Reprints, 1930-1954. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 82908049 Erwin Schrödinger was a physicist. From the description of Correspondence, 1925...