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Max Planck: A delve into brilliance

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Physics, like all great achievements of mankind, was and is flowered only ... to this absolute appeared to me as the most sublime scientific pursuit in life. ... – PowerPoint PPT presentation

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Title: Max Planck: A delve into brilliance


1
Max Planck A delve into brilliance
Alex Currie
2
Introduction
  • Physics, like all great achievements of mankind,
    was and is flowered only through the genius and
    eccentric nature of brilliant men. Every once in
    a while the world is graced with a special few to
    whom even the word genius cannot give proper
    credit. One such man is the German physicist,
    Max Karl Ernst Ludwig Planck. Born April 23,
    1858, in Kiel, Germany, Max flourished in the
    rich scientific institutions of his homeland.
    His life as been, unfortunately, notched not only
    with his amazing successes in the study of
    blackbody radiation and quantum mechanics, but
    with many personal losses as well.

3
  • When asked why he chose the field of physics
    The outside world is something independent from
    man, something absolute, and the quest for the
    laws which apply to this absolute appeared to me
    as the most sublime scientific pursuit in life.
  • So when did this compassion develop? It was
    near the 16th year of my life when I enrolled at
    the University of Munich.

4
  • When you were instated at the University what was
    the general position regarding atomic emissions?
    The theory was that of a continuous flow of
    energy from the atom. Through my later
    experiments with objects that reflect less than
    two percent radiation, or blackbodies, I
    developed the idea of set bundles of energy
    emissions.

5
  • Was there anyone who particularly inspired you?
    There was a teacher of mine, Kirchhoff. He was
    a good man and scientist, but as a teacher his
    speeches were rather dry and monotonous.
  • When you received the chair of theoretical
    physics at Berlin, following Kirchhoffs death,
    how long did you hold that position? That would
    be until my retirement, thirty-eight years later.

6
  • In your first few years at Berlin, why did you
    work so tirelessly in thermodynamics? I found
    in particularly interesting how energy was
    distributed according to the wavelength.
  • Did you worry that publishing theories that
    denounced modern physics, would crush your
    reputation in the scientific community? I would
    hope that my colleagues would take any new
    theories seriously, regardless of the current
    beliefs.

7
  • After you theory of quantized energy, many others
    followed suit, adding to the growing quantum
    theory. Did you ever resent these men for their
    successes where your research had ended? I,
    myself had doubts in the theory and so was very
    happy when I saw physicists such as Niels Bohr
    adding validity to quanta.

8
  • What was your reaction when you received news
    that you were to be granted the Nobel Prize in
    Physics for 1918? I was flattered of course,
    but my interests were already turning from
    quantum research.

9
  • You were also President of the Kaiser Wilhelm
    Gesellschaft research organization, were you not?
    Yes, and due to this hectic time I proceeded in
    very little actual research of my own.
  • Following your groundbreaking work on quanta,
    what were you involved in? It would have been
    around that time when I was elected as the
    Secretary in two sections of the Prussian Academy
    of Sciences.

10
  • Your staunch loyalty to your country has been
    well noted, even through the turbulent years of
    Nazism. What were your views on the current
    affairs at the time? I love Germany, and always
    will, but as a man governed by reason I cannot
    comprehend why men hate as they do.
  • There have been reports that you, yourself, have
    lost loved ones to the horrors of war. Is there
    any truth to these allegations? Yes, my only
    son was executed during the War for plotting to
    assassinate Hitler.

11
Conclusion
  • Those of us who do not have the rights to claim
    genius, find it hard to view such brilliant men
    as Einstein, Bohr, or Planck as mere men. When I
    remember my interview with Mr. Planck, I will not
    only think of his endless work with blackbody
    radiation, his Nobel Prize, or his theoretical
    quanta. I will remember the struggle of a man to
    achieve greatness in a war-torn land. This is
    the man whom lecture halls loved, not the dry
    know-it-all, but the warm, and very human Max
    Planck.
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