Gennady E. Gorelik, Victor Ya. Frenkel

Matvei Petrovich Bronstein and Soviet Theoretical Physics in the Thirties

and Soviet Theoretical Physics in the Thirties
Übersetzung:Levina, V. M.

• Gebundenes Buch

Produktbeschreibung

The short life and tragic death of Matvei Petrovich Bronstein (1906-1938) may be seen as a symbol of the man's time and his country. One of the most remarkable features of Soviet history was the impressive advance of its physical sciences against the brutal and violent background of totalitarianism. Soviet advances in nuclear and space technology form an important part of world history. These achievements had their roots in the 30s, when Bronstein's generation entered science. Among his friends were the famous physicists Lev Landau and George Gamow. Bronstein worked in the vast field of theoretical physics, ranging from nuclear physics to astrophysics and from relativistic quantum theory to cosmology. His pioneering work on quantizing gravitation goes beyond the history of physics, because today the quantum theory of gravitation occupies a special place in fundamental physics. Bronstein was also a master of scientific explanation thanks to his profound knowledge, enthusiasm as a teacher and a gift for literature. This enabled him to write popular science for children, the widest and most responsive group of readers. He became a writer with the help of his wife Lidiya Chukovskaya, known now as an outstanding writer and fighter for human rights. Bronstein's life was closely intertwined with the social, historical and scientific context of one of the most tragic and intriguing periods of Russian history.

Produktdetails

• Science Networks. Historical Studies 12
• Verlag: Springer, Basel / Springer, Berlin
• 1994.
• Seitenzahl: 208
• Englisch
• Abmessung: 240mm x 170mm x 18mm
• Gewicht: 512g
• ISBN-13: 9783764327521
• ISBN-10: 3764327529
• Artikelnr.: 27504436

Inhaltsangabe

1 Childhood and Youth. Road to Science.- 2 In the Leningrad University (1926-1932).- 2.1. Entering the University.- 2.2. The Jazz-Band.- 2.3. The Abbot and his Astronomer Friends.- 2.4. First Works in Astrophysics, Geophysics and Popular Science.- 2.5. At the Shenroks on the Vasiliev Island.- 3 At the Leningrad Physicotechnical Institute.- 3.1. Theoretical Physics in St. Petersburg and Petrograd.- 3.2. The Physicotechnical Institute and Its Seminars.- 3.3. "Quantising Free Electrons in a Magnetic Field".- 3.4. "A New Crisis in the Theory of Quanta".- 3.5. Science and Society.- 3.6. Quantum Mechanics in the Early Thirties.- 3.7. Cosmology in the Early Thirties.- 3.8. The Ether and the Theory of Relativity.- 3.9. Styles and Generations.- 3.10. The Physics of Semiconductors and Nuclear Physics.- 4 Hard Times for the Laws of Conservation and for Theoreticians.- 4.1. Three Attempts to Topple the Law of Conservation of Energy.- 4.2. The Hypothesis of Non-conservation and the Arguments of its Supporters.- 4.3. Non-Physical Arguments Applied to Physics.- 4.4. A Duel in Sorena.- 4.5. The Death of a Non-conservation Hypothesis.- 5 cG?-Physics in Bronstein's Life.- 5.1. An Unsuitable Thesis.- 5.2. The Roots of Bronstein's Interest in cG?-physics.- 5.3. The Quantum Theory of the Weak Gravitational Field.- 5.4. "The Fundamental Differences Between Quantum Electrodynamics and the Quantum Theory of Gravitational Field". The Quantum Gravitational Limits.- 5.5. Physics and Cosmology.- 6 Creative Personality.- 6.1. Perceiving the World.- 6.2. Vocation of a Teacher.- 6.3. Science and Literature.- 6.4. Personality.- Afterword.- Afterword to the English Edition. Half a Century Later.- 1. From the KGB-NKVD Archives.- 2. The Last Days in the Cell.- 3. Subnuclear Physics,Matvei Bronstein and Ettore Majorana.- Chronology.- Notes.- Appendix 1. Extract from M.P.Bronstein's paper "Quantentheorie schwacher Gravitationsfelder", 1936.- Appendix 2. M.P.Bronstein's note "Über den Spontanen Zerfall der Photonen", 1936.- Appendix 3. M.P.Bronstein "Inventors of Radiotelegraph" (First chapters of the book).- Photographs.