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Professor Born, one of the most distinguished physicists of our time, has selected some of his most popular writings covering a period of thirty years, framed between his introduction to Einstein's Theory of Relativity (1921) and the postscript to the American edition of The Restless Universe (1951). It includes several discussions of Einstein's work, a short autobiography and articles dealing with the philosophical background of physics and its revolutionary changes during Professor Born's lifetime. Each treatment of a problem illuminates it from a different angle - all of them from a personal point of view.
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105170 3! PHYSICS IN MY GENERATION PHYSICS IN MY GENERATION A selection of papers MAX BORN F.R.S., N.L. PERGAMON PRESS London &. New YorA First published 1956 Printed in England by ADLARD AND SON LIMITED London and Dorking Published in Great Britain by 4 6? 5 Fit&oy Square, London Street, New Pergmon Press, W.i, and 122 East Tork 22, N.Y. CONTENTS PAGE Preface vii Introduction to Einstein's Theory of Relativity (1921) Physical Aspects of On Quantum Mechanics Meaning of Physical Theories Some Philosophical Aspects of Modern the . . . . . . Physics Cause, Purpose, and Economy in Natural Laws 6 , . . . .14 1 Physics and Metaphysics ....... Physics in the Last Fifty Years The Conceptual its . . Situation in Physics . . . and the Prospects of . .123 Quantum Mechanics . . . . .164 . . .171 . . , . Mechanics in . . . . Quantum Mechanics From 177 189 Relativity Development and Essence of the Atomic Age A New 140 151 fact Deterministic ? Statistical Interpretation of and 109 . Astronomical Recollections Physics 93 . . Physical Reality Is Classical 55 80 . Future Development Interpretation of . 7 37 . Einstein's Statistical Theories The i . the Significance of Collision Processes in the Under- standing of Quantum Mechanics On .... . . Year's Message the Postscript to The Restless Universe (1951) 207 223 . * 225 TO SIR EDWARD APPLETON G.B.E.,K.C.B.,F.R.S.,N.L. Vice-Chancellor and Principal of Edinburgh University PREFACE THE idea of collecting these essays occurred to leisure of retirement, I scanned some of own my me when, in the books and found more widely read show a startling change of attitude some of the fundamental concepts of science. These are Einstein s Theory of Relativity of 1921 and the American edition of that two of the to 9 The Restless Universe of 1951. I have taken the introduction of the former as the first item of this collection, the postscript to the latter as its last. These books agree in the relativistic concept of space and time, but differ in many other fundamental notions. In 1921 I believed and I shared this belief with most of my contem