The Genesis and Present State of Development of the Quantum Theory
Delivered in Stockholm on June 2, 1920, upon receiving the Nobel Prize in Physics for his discovery of energy quanta, laying the groundwork for modern physics.
Full Transcript
When I look back twenty years to the time when the concept of the physical quantum of action first began to take shape, I recall the skepticism with which my proposal was received.
For classical physics, energy was a continuous quantity, flowing like a smooth stream. But in trying to explain black-body radiation, I was forced to introduce the quantum of action h.
Energy is emitted not in a continuous stream, but in discrete packets or quanta.
This radical departure from classical concepts opened up a new realm of natural law, leading directly to the quantum mechanics of Bohr, Heisenberg, and Schrödinger.
Science cannot solve the ultimate mystery of nature. And that is because, in the last analysis, we ourselves are a part of the mystery that we are trying to solve.
Defining Key Excerpts
"An new scientific truth does not triumph by convincing its opponents and making them see the light, but rather because its opponents eventually die, and a new generation grows up that is familiar with it."
"Energy is emitted not in a continuous stream, but in discrete packets or quanta."
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