Abstract
Scientific change is most often also a change of scientists, but does the inverse also make sense? Perhaps this may be the case if the changes are made intentionally. Thus the first field of research politics—which does not necessarily add up to a stringent policy—concerns the discussions about, and even fights for candidates and successors at the Göttingen faculty. In the following, I begin by describing the changes in personnel of the chairs of physics and neighboring fields. These are included to illustrate the rather exceptional changes in some fields like physics. The analysis of continuities and discontinuities is then employed to identify the driving forces behind the observed changes.
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- 1.
For this chapter I used the following archival sources in particular: Geheimes Staatsarchiv Preußischer Kulturbesitz Berlin (=GStA PK), Rep. 76 V a, Sekt. 6, Tit. IV, Nr. 1, Bd. XXIV–XXVIII (correspondence with the ministry of culture); Universitätsarchiv Göttingen (=UA-Gö), Kur. 4 I 105 (formerly XVI.V.B.7), Vol. I–II (correspondence with the university curator); Kur. 4 Vc and Kur. P.A. (staff files); Phil. Fak. II Ph. 36 a–f (faculty issues); Niedersächsische Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek, Special Collections, Cod. Ms. D. Hilbert, F. Klein, W. Voigt, K. Schwarzschild (= Hilbert Papers, etc.).
- 2.
Frobenius to Ministry 22 June 1914, reprinted in Biermann (1988, 325): “Damals [1902] hat er den Ruf abgelehnt; inzwischen hat er sich, nachdem Berlin ein kleines Göttingen geworden ist, vielleicht eines besseren besonnen.”
- 3.
The faculty named Adolf Hurwitz, Otto Blumenthal and Edmund Landau in no particular order, cf. Rowe (1992, 564 f.); it has been suggested that Hilbert supported Landau, cf. Peckhaus (1990, 121). In an undated letter to Klein in 1909, Hilbert neutrally writes that Landau accepted the call and immediately afterwards reports that he was successful in increasing Zermelo’s remuneration considerably. He adds that Landau will lecture mainly on prime numbers, “Crooked lines and surfaces do not suit him at the moment” (Frei 1985, 138). In a letter to Sommerfeld, however, Hilbert stated that Landau was his choice: “Fakultät und Ministerium legten die Wahl ganz in meine Hände; ich hoffe, dass sie gut ausgefallen ist.” Hilbert to Sommerfeld, 10 April 1909, (Sommerfeld 2000, 356–358, on 357) .
- 4.
Cp. the article (Runge 1907) which was presented in the Göttingen Mathematische Gesellschaft on 7 May 1907.
- 5.
See next section below with more details.
- 6.
Slightly differing accounts can be found in Hund (1987), Jungnickel and McCormmach (1986), Dahms (2002), Greenspan (2005).
- 7.
Cf. also for the following: (Peckhaus 1990, 208ff).
- 8.
Courant to Hilbert, July 1918, as cited in Reid (1970, 90).
- 9.
Cf. the answer Becker to Hilbert, 10 October 1918, UA-Gö, Hilbert Papers, folder 15A, Bl. 1/1–1/2.: “Ihre Wünsche gehen aber darin zu weit, wenn Sie meinen, mehr oder weniger sämtliche Lehrstühle der Philosophie in Göttingen mit naturwissenschaftlich orientierten Philosophen besetzen zu können.”
- 10.
Note that the German system is a strictly non-tenure track, so that a scholar who did his habilitation at one university first needs to get a position at another in order to return to a professorship.
- 11.
See Ebel (1962) and Tollmien (1991).
- 12.
Riecke to Ministry, 4 October 1914, requests that a “frische, noch mitten in der entwicklung stehende kraft an meine stelle tritt;” complains about “sehr ungleiche vorbereitung der zuhörer.” GStA PK Rep. 76 V a, Sekt. 6, Tit. IV, Nr. 1, Bd. XXIV, Bl. 108–109v.
- 13.
Ministry to Göttingen Curator, 2 July 1915, writes that appointing Wien was “hopeless.” GStA PK Rep. 76 V a, Sekt. 6, Tit. IV, Nr. 1, Bd. XXIV, Bl. 181.
- 14.
Document 10 (p. 101).
- 15.
Document 14 (p. 103).
- 16.
Curator to Minister, 18 April 1914, GStA PK Rep. 76 V a, Sekt. 6, Tit. IV, Nr. 1, Bd. XXIV, Bl. 69–70.
- 17.
See on Voigt’s teacher Franz Neumann and also on his son Carl Neumann, a professor of mathematical physics in Leipzig, (Jungnickel and McCormmach 1986).
- 18.
Cf. Paschen to Sommerfeld, 14 November 190, DMA HS 1977–28/A, 253, who reflects upon the relationship between the theoretician and the experimentalist, questioning whether any pure experimentalist exists (“reinen Beobachtungskünstler”), since even experimental physicists can do experiments in a theoretical manner (“theoretisch experimentieren”).
- 19.
Cf. Kangro (1969), compare also Heinrich Kayser’s critical view on Wien’s work in his Erinnerungen, (Kayser 1996, 136): “Through Wien’s radiation law’ he became a great man and he was supported by the fact that about at the same time Paschen took great pains over deducing the same law experimentally.”
- 20.
Forman (1970b, 346), Paschen-Sommerfeld correspondence (Sommerfeld 2000; Paschen 1916).
- 21.
Agreement, Paschen with Elster, 19 June 1915. Paschen to Elster and Debye to Elster, 23 June 1915. Paschen to Elster, 27 June 1915. Elster to Curator and Elster to Voigt 2 July 1915. Telegram Hilbert and Debye to Elster, 6 July 1915. GSPtKB Rep. 76 V a, Sekt. 6, Tit. IV, Nr. 1, Bd. XXIV, Bl. 307–338.
- 22.
Göttingen offered 8400 M basic salary, Tübingen 6500M. Agreement Elster with Paschen, 19 June 1915, GStA PK Rep. 76 V a, Sekt. 6, Tit. IV, Nr. 1, Bd. XXIV, Bl. 307–309; (Forman 1970b).
- 23.
Dean to Minister, 24 December 1914, GStA PK Rep. 76 V a, Sekt. 6, Tit. IV, Nr. 1, Bd. XXIV, Bl. 124–126v.
- 24.
Stark to Ministry, 18 June and 1 July 1915, GStA PK Rep. 76 V a, Sekt. 6, Tit. IV, Nr. 1, Bd. XXIV, Bl. 326, 330.
- 25.
Document 11 (p. 101).
- 26.
Document 11 (p. 101).
- 27.
Cf. Rubens’ attitude in Document 13 (p. 102).
- 28.
Elster to Curator, 2 July 1915, GStA PK Rep. 76 V a, Sekt. 6, Tit. IV, Nr. 1, Bd. XXIV, Bl. 181.
- 29.
Dean to ministry, 18 December 1915, GStA PK Rep. 76 V a, Sekt. 6, Tit. IV, Nr. 1, Bd. XXIV, Bl. 348–354: The list consisted of 1. E. Meyer—Tübingen, 2. Pohl, P. P. Koch—Munich, while Simon was not included. Instead, applied and technical physics was preferred (p. 350).
- 30.
Ibid.: “Begabung für Präzisionsphysik [...] der einen neuen Weg eröffnen dürfte zur Lösung der gegenwärtig im Mittelpunkt des Interesses stehenden Fragen nach der Struktur der Atome.”
- 31.
Sommerfeld to Wien, 1 June 1916, DM Wien Papers, box 010. “Auch Wagner ist theoretischer Physiker, nur nicht die Spur mathematischer Physiker. Koch ist wohl beides nicht, sondern nur glänzender physikalischer Techniker.”
- 32.
On Koch: “Präzisionsphysik im Sinne Röntgens,” spezif. Wärme, Zeeman-Effekt;—Zweifel an: Füchtbauer—Leipzig, Gaede—Freiburg, Ladenburg—Breslau, Franck—Berlin.
- 33.
For Voigt’s views on Stark, see his review of Stark’s book on “Elektrische Spektralanalyse chemischer Atome,” Leipzig 1914 (Voigt 1915a) , where he concludes: “Das Einzige, was bleibt, und was für Leser, die Starks eigenartige wissenschaftliche Persönlichkeit aus seinen Originalabhandlungen nicht zuvor kennen gelernt haben, ist der Einblick in dessen eigne Vorstellungswelt. Wie bei anderen experimentell ungewöhnlich begabten Forschern ist in Stark das Bedürfnis nach lebendiger innerer Anschauung der von ihm behandelten physikalischen Vorgänge äußerst ausgeprägt, ein Bedürfnis, das sich zur Not auch mit einem Modell befriedigt, das nach manchen Seiten hin physikalisch unmöglich erscheint, wenn es nur nach der einen ihm momentan wichtigsten Seite hin eine Deutung des Vorgangs anbietet. [...] Stark ein Experimentator erstern Ranges [...]” (p. 502).
- 34.
Debye interview 1962 p. II/5 (AHQP). It appears that Hilbert had convinced Debye of Stark’s inappropriateness. “[...] Hilbert insisted that that as a völkisch nationalist and outspoken anti-Semite, Stark was simply unacceptable for Göttingen, and after he apparently persuaded Peter Debye of this, no one was prepared to argue otherwise” (Rowe 1992, 502).
- 35.
Voigt to Naumann, 20 May 1914, GStA PK Rep. 76 V a, Sekt. 6, Tit. IV, Nr. 1, Bd. XXIV, Bl. 71–73. “[...] der Universität ein theoretisch-physikalisches Institut zu schaffen, das im Sinne des Ideales meines Lehrers Franz Neumann die breiteste Berührung zwischen Theorie und Beobachtung vermittelt.”
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Schirrmacher, A. (2019). From Generational Change to Scientific Opportunity. In: Establishing Quantum Physics in Göttingen. SpringerBriefs in History of Science and Technology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-22727-2_2
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