'I read The Planetary Atom with great interest. Of course, we are all aware of the major contributions made by legendary researchers such as Ernest Rutherford, who first set up the model known as 'the planetary atom'. But I knew nothing of the much more discrete figure of George Adolphus Schott. I was impressed, on reading this book, to discover the significance and conceptual depth of his work.'
Claude Cohen-TannoudjiNobel Laureate in PhysicsCollege de France, Paris
'Although Science is not fiction, the lives and works of scientists provide real substance for a novel like The Planetary Atom, which tells a story of general public interest.'
Jean-Marie LehnNobel Laureate in ChemistryUniversite Louis Pasteur, Strasbourg
Foreword by Roald Hoffmann, Nobel Laureate in ChemistryThis largely imaginary biography recreates the life and times of George Adolphus Schott, a contemporary of Rutherford and Bohr, who criticized the Planetary Atom which was proposed to account for celebrated observations by Rutherford. Schott proved the Planetary Atom to be incompatible with fundamental properties of physics. Unfortunately, his work was cast aside because of Bohr's success in accounting for the structure of the atom. Later, it was found that Schott had, in fact, predicted important effects. Nonetheless, his contribution was forgotten and his discovery of Synchrotron Radiation was attributed to another.In The Planetary Atom, Schott's interactions with eminent scientists of the time are reconstructed. The novel rehabilitates an unjustly forgotten British researcher and restores him to his rightful place as one of the great scientists of his time.Related Link(s)
Contents:
- Foreword
- Preface
- About the Author
- Scientists Versus Poets?
- Ernest Rutherford Meets George Schott
- Eileen Rutherford's Atomic Physics
- Why Ernest Rutherford Needed George Schott
- George Schott's Motivation and Philosophy
- Ernest Rutherford and Marie Curie
- Hiring a Professor of Physics
- Rutherford's Dilemma and His Challenge to Schott
- Two Gifted Brothers in Cambridge
- Why Ever Aberystwyth?
- A Lady Writes a Lette
- A Danish Theorist Joins the Fray
- Schott Slips through the Great War
- Disappointments after Peace
- His Cousin Settles in Aberystwyth
- Schott Passes Away and a British Bomber is Shot Down
- Patrick Blackett Never Mentioned Schott
- Synchrotron Radiation Came Too Late
- Afterword
Readership: General public. People interested in science, including school children, university students, and academics looking for general reading.
Key Features:
- This book focuses on aspects of science which are very close to artistic creativity. It is not a scientific treatise, but a work of imagination — a novel — and takes the life of a researcher as its theme
- The aim is to show that science in its purest form is very close to art and that the two should not be thought of as entirely separate or opposed to each other
- In this respect, the book fills a gap in contemporary culture and moves the debate about the place of science in society onto a different plane from the usual one today
