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Weimar Culture and Quantum Mechanics: Selected Papers by Paul Forman and Contemporary Perspectives on the Forman Thesis Reprint Edition
Author(s): Paul Forman (Author), Cathryn Carson (Editor), Alexei Kojevnikov (Editor)
- Publisher: World Scientific Publishing Company
- Publication Date: 11 July 2011
- Edition: Reprint
- Language: English
- Print length: 560 pages
- ISBN-10: 9814293113
- ISBN-13: 9789814293112
Book Description
This volume reprints Paul Forman’s classic papers on the history of physics in post-World War I Germany and the invention of quantum mechanics. The Forman thesis has become famous as the first argument in favor of the cultural conditioning of scientific knowledge, in particular for its demonstration of the historical connection between the culture of Weimar Germany – known for its irrationality and antiscientism – and the emerging concept of quantum acausality. At the 2007 international conference in Vancouver, Canada, leading historians of physics discussed the implications of the Forman thesis in the historiography of modern science. Their papers collected in this volume represent a cutting-edge research on the history of quantum revolution.
Editorial Reviews
Review
This timely volume may very well be used, not only by graduate students but also by all those eager to become familiar with historiographical reflections on the history of quantum physics. A volume such as this helps enormously to build a reflective picture of the past of the history of science. —AMBIX
It is useful for those interested in the history of our field, to have re-prints of Forman’s papers. And the quality of the papers here is considerably higher than in many collections. —
Metascience “It is useful for those interested in the history of our field, to have re-prints of Forman’s papers. And the quality of the papers here is considerably higher than in many collections.” —MetascienceFrom the Back Cover
This volume reprints Paul Forman’s classic papers on the history of the scientific profession in post-World War I Germany and the invention of quantum mechanics. The Forman thesis became famous for its demonstration of the cultural conditioning of scientific knowledge, in particular by showing the historical connection between the culture of Weimar Germany known for its irrationality and antiscientism and the emerging concept of quantum acausality. From the moment of its publication, Forman’s research provoked intense historical and philosophical debates. In 2007, participants at an international conference in Vancouver, Canada, discussed the implications of the Forman thesis for contemporary historiography. Their contributions collected in this volume represent cutting-edge research on the history of the quantum revolution and of German science.
