Where does one start to celebrate the achievements of Max Planck (1858-1947)? He along with the immortal “Giants” and fellow Nobel Laureates Albert Einstein (1879-1955) and Neils Bohr (1855-1962). He brought about a revolution in Physics and ushered in a new era whilst doing away with what we refer to as Classical Physics rendering incomplete the work of other “Gods” of Physics. Isaac Newton (1643-1727), James Clerk Maxwell (1831-1879) and Ludwig Boltzmann (1844-1906).
Quest to Solve Black-Body Radiation Problem
As a researcher Max was in search of a topic for his PhD thesis and he was investigating black-body radiation. There were two competing theories at the time that were in use to explain the spectrum observed from the said object, Wein’s displacement law and the Stefan-Boltmann law. However there was an issue in the ultra violet region causing what has been called affectionately the Ultra-Violet catastrophe . And as my “old friend” Richard Feynman (1918-1988) once so eloquently put it regarding experimental results.
“It does not matter how smart you are if your theory does not agree with experiment then it is wrong, in that simple statement is the essence of Science” – R. Feynman.
Feynman’s Principle and Planck’s Theory
Thus, Max Planck in a state of desperation proposed a Mathematical theory that would agree numerically with experiment and in doing so introduced quanta (discrete packets) of energy as opposed to a continuum. These quanta were then further explained by Albert (when explaining the photoelectric effect) and by Neils when explaining the spectral lines of hydrogen and consequently of its electronic configuration. Balmer (1825-1898) also played a part in explaining hydrogen but that is for another post.
Musical Evenings with Einstein
It is perhaps not so well known that Albert and Max used to have evenings together playing musical instruments (Albert on violine and Max on piano). I wish I had more space to also discuss the Bohr-Einstein debates with the immortal passage for posterity
Albert: God does not play dice with the universe (here he was refuting a probabilistic view of the universe)
Neils: Stop telling God what to do.
And leading to the famous Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen paradox but alas there is not sufficient space.
Staying with quotes one of my favourite Einstein sayings is:
“God is subtle but not malicious”,
referring to how his (God’s) laws could be unravelled and found to be beautiful.
Regrettably, I have to stop here for now, until next time.
