Oral history interview with Lothar Wolfgang Nordheim, 1962 July 30.

ArchivalResource

Oral history interview with Lothar Wolfgang Nordheim, 1962 July 30.

This interview was conducted as part of the Archives for the History of Quantum Physics project, 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, Paul Ehrenfest, Enrico Fermi, Ralph Fowler, James Franck, George Gamow, Werner Heisenberg, David Hilbert, Henri Poincaré, Arnold Sommerfeld, John Von Neumann; Kbenh︣avns Universitet, Universität Göttingen, Universität München, and University of Cambridge.

Transcript, 23 pp.

Information

SNAC Resource ID: 8293676

Related Entities

There are 19 Entities related to this resource.

Franck, James, 1882-1964

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w65f9j9x (person)

James Franck was born August 26, 1882 in Hamburg, Germany, where his Sephardic Jewish forebears had lived for over two hundred years [Box 20, folder 58 and Box 21, folder 1]. His father, Jacob Franck, was a banker who wanted his son to follow a business career in keeping with family tradition. From childhood on, however, James could imagine no other life but science. An X-ray photograph illustrates his fascination with new discoveries in physics. He had already read of Roentgen's X...

Universität Göttingen.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6gr7pq3 (corporateBody)

Universität München.

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

Bohr, Niels, 1885-1962

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6t836n5 (person)

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...

Nordheim, Lothar, 1899-

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w60p1gv3 (person)

Physicist (theoretical physics). Professor, Duke University, 1937-1956; director, John Jay Hopkins Laboratory, General Dynamics Corp., from 1956; consultant, Los Alamos National Laboratory, 1950-1952. From the description of Dead end: from the diary of an atomic scientist, 1946. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 83856790 ...

Poincaré, Henri, 1854-1912

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6dz09rs (person)

Mathematician (mathematical physics, celestial mechanics). On faculty of Université de Caen (1880); and Université de Paris (1881-1912). From the description of Selected papers [microform], 1873-1914. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 154306282 ...

Fermi, Enrico, 1901-1954

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6736s35 (person)

Enrico Fermi was a physicist. From the description of Letters, 1918-1926, to Enrico Perisco. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 173466015 From the guide to the Enrico Fermi letters, 1918-1926, to Enrico Perisco, 1918-1926, (American Philosophical Society) Physicist. From the description of Papers of Enrico Fermi, 1919-1954. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 71068165 Physicist (slow neutrons, artificial radioactivity, beta-ray emission, statistical mode...

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 ...

Københavns universitet. Institut for klassisk og nærorientalsk arkæologi

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6qs01q3 (corporateBody)

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...

Gamow, George, 1904-1968

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6154j8k (person)

George Gamow: physicist, astronomer, and author. Born Georgii Antonovič Gamov. Barbara Merrihew Perkins: editor and translator. From the description of George Gamow and Barbara Gamow papers, 1915-1975 (bulk 1950-1975). (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 70981157 Russian-born American physicist, early advocate of the "Big Bang" theory of the origin of the universe. Professor of Physics at George Washington University, 1934-1956. While a student at the Institute of Theoretical Ph...

Fowler, R. H. (Ralph Howard), 1889-1944

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6222whc (person)

Hilbert, David, 1862-1943

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6hd7xmh (person)

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...

Heilbron, John.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6qn6zvz (person)

University of Cambridge.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6r24w7r (corporateBody)

Harvard University celebrated its 250th anniversary in 1886. Many institutions of higher education, governments, and individuals sent greetings and congratulations to commemorate the occasion. This seal accompanied greetings from the University of Cambridge, England, to the university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. From the description of Sigillum coe cancellarii mror et scholariu Universitat Cantebrigie, 1886. (Harvard University). WorldCat record id: 228509847 The University...

Heisenberg, Werner, 1901-1976

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6j967hs (person)

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...

Von Neumann, John, 1903-1957

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6v69kqh (person)

John (Johann) Louis von Neumann (1903-1957) was born in Budapest and showed early signs of being a child prodigy. He entered the University of Budapest in 1921, but also attended the University of Berlin and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology before obtaining a degree in chemical engineering in 1925. He earned his Doctorate in Mathematics from the University of Budapest in 1927. After graduation, he worked at the University of Berlin before becoming a visiting professor to Princeton from ...

Born, Max, 1882-1970

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w61v5g64 (person)

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...

Ehrenfest, Paul, 1880-1933

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6fn18ht (person)

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 ...