The bohr atom bound in cloth

1. The bohr atom bound in cloth Literary Exposition of Quantum Theory in Popular Science Books, 1918-1926 Kristian H. Nielsen Centre for Science Studies Ny Munkegade 120, 1520 DK-8000 Århus C Denmark E-mail: khn@ivs.au.dk

2. Historiography of popular science • Who’safraid of ”popular science”? • ”An unworkableanalyticalcategory” (Topham 1998; Secord 2004) • Used in a derogativeway to denigratepopularbooks, articles etc. • Used to legimitize science as the onlyway of knowing about the world • The canonicalaccount of ”popular science” • In the distant past, science and the public wereintimate and entangled • Progressively, science has shed and disciplineditspublics • Today, weknow (wethink) who is a scientist and who is a lay person

3. Historiography of popular science • Let’sinventother terms! • Expository science: Forms and functions (Shinn & Whitley 1985) • Continuum of expositorypractices: referent, imagery, argument • Science communication • Let’shistoricize ”popular science”! • Analyze the social and rhetorical dimensions of ”technical” vs. ”popular” • Struggles to define ”popular science” • Ambiguities and complexitiesexhibited by ”popular science”

4. Historiography of popularscience • The rise of popular science in the 19th century • Professionalization of science • The construction of the public as mass of consumers and ”chatterers” • The popular science ”boom” in the early 20th century • Publishers seeking/creatingaudiencesbased on product differentiation • Range of books & pamphlets for differentaudiences at differentprices • Scientistspromoting the bigpicture • Atomicphysics, cosmology, relativity, evolution, science and industry, etc.

5. quantum theory in books 1918-1925 • Graetz, L. (1918). Die Atomtheorie in ihrerneuestenEntwicklung: SechsVorträge. Stuttgart: Verlag von J. Engelhorns Nachf. • Sommerfeld, A. (1919). Atombau und Spektrallinien. Braunschweig: Durck und Verlag von Friedr. Vieweg & Sohn • Crehore, A. C. (1920). The Atom. New York: D. Van Nostrandcompany • Holst, H., & Kramers, H. A. (1922). Bohrs Atomteori, almenfatteligt fremstillet. Copenhagen: Gyldendal • Kirchberger, P. (1922a). Atom- und Quantentheorie. Leipzig. • Kirchberger, P. (1922b). Die Entwicklung der Atomtheorie. Karlsruhe: Druck and Verlag C. F. MüllerscheHofbuchhandlung. • Russell, B. (1923). The ABC of Atoms. London: Kegan Paul & Co • Andrade, E. N. d. C. (1923). The Structure of the Atom. London: G. Bell & Sons • Sullivan, J. W. N. (1923). Atoms and Electrons. London: Hodder and Stoughton. • Campbell, N. R. (1923). The Structure of the Atom. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. • Lodge, O. (1924). Atoms and Rays: An Introduction to ModernViews on AtomicStructure and Radiation. London: Ernest Benn Ltd

6. N-Grams for atom, quantum, bohr

7. N-Grams for atom, quantum, bohr, relativity, einstein

8. N-Grams for atom, quantum, bohr, relativity, einstein, dada, duchamp

9. Planetarymodel of the atom • “Just as in the solar system, the general movement of the electrons around the nucleus forms an ellipse, the focus of which is the nucleus, but these “Kepler ellipses” are only available in a limited and discrete number and, on the basis of quantum theoretical calculations, are arithmetically characterized by fixed eccentricities and major semiaxes.” (Sommerfeld 1919, p. 68) • “An atom is found to be a sort of solar system, with sun and planets; the empty regions between the sun and the planets fill up vastly more space than they do, so that the greater part of the volume that seems to us to be filled by a solid body is really unoccupied.” (Russell 1923, p. 16)

10. Attractiveness of the planetary model • Ontologicalcoherence • Similaritybetweenstructure of the universe and structure of the atom • A niceand simple mental picture • Iconicrepresentation of the atom

11. Attractiveness of the planetary model • Ontologicalcoherence • Similaritybetweenstructure of the universe and structure of the atom • A niceand simple mental picture • Iconicrepresentation of the atom

12. Attractiveness of the planetary model • Ontologicalcoherence • Similaritybetweenstructure of the universe and structure of the atom • A niceand simple mental picture • Iconicrepresentation of the atom • Epistemologicalcertainty • Science willprogress! • By means of experiment and mathematics

13. The advent of a new ”newtonian age” • “To many of us it appears that we are certainly living in a Keplerian age: that is to say, in an age when all sorts of hypotheses are put forward, and are being compared with experiment and observation to see if they hold good, and even if their rationale is not at the time understood, and although they may have to wait, for full explanation, for the Newtonian age which in process of time ought to follow. Some of us have even suggested that a Newtonian age is beginning now; not because any one man is of the magnitude of Newton, but because there are so many men well equipped with mathematical methods of investigation, and standing on the shoulders of the great men of the past.” (Lodge 1924, p. V)

14. acousticanalogies • ”An atom cannotemit or absorbany kind of vibration, but iicanemit and absorb a vibration of the right kind in a surprisinglyefficientmanner with consequencesthatwereunexpected, and which still cannotfullybeaccounted for.” • ”If wenow imagine an assemblage of quiescent tuning-forks of different sizes, and a sound wave falls upon the aassemblage, only those forks will vibrate which are in tune with the wave—that is, which have the same frequency—and from them the pellets will be thrown off; but until the right frequency is reached, nothing happens.” (Lodge 1923, p. 64-65)

15. acousticanalogies • ”If wetry to illustrate the matter [atomicstructure] with an analogy from the theory of sound, wecan do so by comparing the atom not with a stringed instrument, but with a hypothetical musical instrument of a whollydifferent kind. Let us imagine thatwe have placedone over another and concentrically a series of circulardics of progressively smaller radii, and the let ussupposethat a small spherecanmovearoundanyone of thesewithoutfriction and withoutemitting sound. In such a motion the system maybesaid to be in a ”stationarystate.” (Kramers and Holst 1923, p. 120)

16. acousticanalogies • ”Sooner or later the spheremayfall from the first disc on to onelowerdown and continue to roll around on the second, havingemitted sound, let usassume, by itsfall. By passingthur from onestationarystate to another it loses an quantity of energyequal to the workwhichwouldbenecessary to raise it again to the disc previouslyoccupied, and to bring it back to the original state of motion. Wecanassumethat the energywhich is lost in the fallreappears in a sound waveemitted by the instrument, and that the pitch of the sound emitted is proportional to the energy sent out. If, moreover, we imagine that the lowermost disc is grooved in such a waythat the spherecannotfallfarther, thenthisfanciful instrument can provide a very rough analogy with the Bohr atom. We must beware, however, of stretching the analogyfartherthan is hereindicated.” (Kramers and Holst 1923, p. 120)

17. The staircase model • ” Think of a marble rolling down a circular staircase, like a conical pyramid cut into steps. When it comes to the edge of a step, it tumbles over and acquires speed in its descent, so that it is moving more rapidly than before, but when it strikes, there is a noise and some of the energy is lost. If the marble was running round the steps in a sort of spiral, if the risers between the steps increased in depth from the top downwards, and if it could bounce over some of the steps, then we would have a very rough and unsatisfactory model, but one which does suggest a discontinuous kind of fall, and also the emission of radiant energy in the form of sound or vibration every time there is an impact.” (Lodge 1923, p. 133-134)

18. the ”human” atom • “The nucleus of any atom except hydrogen is a tight little system, which may be compared to a family of energetic people engaged in a perpetual family quarrel. In radio-activity some members of the family emigrate, and it is found that the energy they used to spend in quarrels at home is sufficient to govern an empire. If this source of energy can be utilized commercially, it will probably in time supersede every other.” (Russell 1923, p. 14) • “An electron is like a man who, when he is insulted, listens at first apparently unmoved, and then suddenly hits out.” (Russell 1923, p. 63)

19. Reconciling quantum theory with everydayexperience • “To the eye or to the touch, ordinary matter appears to be continuous; our dinner-table or the chairs on which we sit, seem to present an unbroken surface. We think that if there were too many holes the chairs would not be safe to sit on. Science, however, compels us to accept a quite different conception of what we are pleased to call “solid matter”; it is, in fact, something much more like the Irishman’s definition of a net, “a number of holes tied together with pieces of string.” Only it would be necessary to image the strings cut away until only the knots were left.” (Russell 1923, p. V)

20. Metaphors for quanta • “A block or a pillar set up on a table can be upset by a critical force applied to it horizontally, but any force less than that need not cause any disturbance.” • “Or take an explosive substance, say gunpowder. A spark of sufficient suddenness will ignite it and produce a violent result. A stronger spark will do no more, but an unsuitable spark of flame will do nothing. • “Or take an example from agriculture. A seed thrown in the ground will germinate and produce a bush or tree of appropriate size. But half a seed would presumably decay and produce nothing. Indeed, seeds may be said to exist in quanta.” (Lodge 1923, p. 136-137)

21. Metaphors for quanta • “Again, a clock gives the time in quanta. The hands of the clock do not move continuously, but in jerks.” • “The heavenly bodies are obviously discontinuous. There must be some reason, which indeed has been partly ascertained, why matter is distributed in the large masses that we call stars and not aggregated into one great lump by reason of gravitational attraction.” (Lodge 1923, p. 137)

22. Literary ”clothing” of the bohr atom • Scientists’ perceivedlack of interest in popularization • “once a statement has been properly formulated there is no need of repetition, no need for full discussion and exposition of it in all its bearings” (Lodge 1923, p. vi) • The Bohr atom exposed and discussed in many ways • Degree of mathematization (technicality) • Linguisticexperiments with literaryexposition of the Bohr Atom and Quantum Theory

23. Thanks! • Kristian H. Nielsen • Center for Science Studies • Ny Munkegade 120, 1520 • DK-8000 Århus C • Denmark • E-mail: khn@ivs.au.dk