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The Physical Tourist

Geneva: From the Science of the Enlightenment to CERN

John Calvin (1509–1564) founded a College and Academy in Geneva in 1559, the latter of which, through the efforts of many of its scholars, was finally declared to be a genuine university, the University of Geneva, in 1872. Meanwhile, thanks to the outstanding achievements of the rich, patrician Genevan scientists, in particular during the 18th century, Geneva secured a prominent place in European learned society. With the appointment of Charles-Eugène Guye (1866–1942) to the University of Geneva in 1900, Genevan research entered resolutely into 20th-century physics, particularly relativity, and continued to gain momentum before and after the Second World War when, in 1953, Geneva was chosen as the site of one of the most prestigious scientific laboratories in the world, CERN. I sketch these developments, pointing out many of the locations where they occurred in Geneva.

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Correspondence to Jan Lacki.

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For an interactive map of Geneva, see the website <www.ville-ge.ch/en/cartes/>.

Jan Lacki teaches history and philosophy of physics at the University of Geneva and is a member of the REHSEIS research unit of the CNRS, Paris.

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Lacki, J. The Physical Tourist. Phys. perspect. 9, 231–252 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00016-007-0327-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00016-007-0327-5

Keywords:

  • Geneva College and Academy
  • Geneva Observatory
  • University of Geneva
  • Institute of Physics
  • Museum of History of Science
  • CERN
  • John Calvin
  • Carl Vogt
  • Jean-Robert Chouet
  • Jacques-André Mallet
  • Emile Gautier
  • Horace-Bénédict de Saussure
  • Pierre Prévost
  • Gaspard de la Rive
  • Auguste de la Rive
  • Charles-Eugène Guye
  • Albert Einstein
  • Ernest C.G. Stueckelberg
  • physics
  • astronomy
  • history of physics
  • scientific instruments
  • theory of relativity
  • quantum theory