Arnold Sommerfeld. Science, life and turbulent times 1868--1951 (Q2843824)

Hearing the name ``Arnold Sommerfeld'', physicists and possibly mathematicians at once have associations like Bohr-Sommerfeld atomic model, Sommerfeld's fine-structure constant, Sommerfeld's legendary work ``Atombau und Spektrallinien'', and at least older physicists think of Sommerfeld's ``Vorlesungen über theoretische Physik''. The ``Vorlesungen'' contributed their share to establish theoretical physics as a relatively self-standing subject of study. And one remembers Sommerfeld as a great teacher of a generation of younger physicists who founded quantum mechanics. Moreover, Sommerfeld left traces in mathematics and technical sciences. But his concern went far beyond purely scientific topics. So, in the 1920s on his journeys abroad, he was very active to intensify the international cultural exchange. And, what has to be strongly stressed, during the Nazi dictatorship he was a steadfast opponent of the national-socialist ideology.NEWLINENEWLINEReflecting on this, the author of the present Sommerfeld biography, published in German, states that the breadth and significance of Sommerfeld's activities should not be content with a pure description of his scientific achievements. It must also evaluate the historical events during his life with respect to their meaning for the individual. According to the author's intention, this must not mean that, neglecting the particularities of the researcher's personality and the description of his scientific insights, the biography should only be used to illustrate social and political developments or the history of science. Rather, it has to avoid a representation in which the life of a scientist and the progress of his science appears as an autonomous cosmos quite independently of the general history of the society.NEWLINENEWLINEGuided by these rules and based on the found abundance of Sommerfeld research material, the author meets the genre in the sense of an ``existential biography''. To shed an authentic light on the scientific and private sides of Sommerfeld's personality, he cites extensively from Sommerfeld's correspondence. So, one learns a lot by reading Sommerfeld's own words, where, however, sometimes the reader might ask why one should know such private details.NEWLINENEWLINE The book starts with a description of Sommerfeld's childhood and his studies at the University of Königsberg, where he was worrying about the decision between pure mathematics, applied mathematics and physics. It continues with a detailed representation of the physicist's work at many places until the late work after the Second World War.NEWLINENEWLINE The biography presents a wealth of material concerning Sommerfeld's family life, administrative and teaching activities, scientific work in many different fields, discussions with disciples and colleagues etc. It culminates in reminding the reader of the turbulent discussions in the context of the foundation of quantum theory and in a description of Sommerfeld's attitude during the Nazi time. It is an advantage of this biography that it also refers to the fact that Sommerfeld's scientific work, beside atom and quantum theory, has still many other facets and that, in contrast to a widespread opinion, sometimes found in literature, Sommerfeld was not only a great teacher and a successful problem-oriented worker, but, like Planck, Bohr and Einstein, a scientist with deep insights into the principles of physics. The book is also well readable by physical-mathematical laymen.