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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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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