Abstract
We organized and led a European study course for American undergraduate university students to explore the early history of relativity and quantum theory. We were inspired by The Physical Tourist articles published in this journal on Munich, Bern, Berlin, Copenhagen, and Göttingen. We describe this adventure both for others wishing to teach such a course and for anyone wishing to walk in the footsteps of the physicists who revolutionized physics in the early decades of the twentieth century.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Jürgen Teichmann, Michael Eckert, and Stefan Wolff, “Physicists and Physics in Munich,” Physics in Perspective 4 (2002), 333–359.
Ruth Lewin Sime, Lise Meitner: A Life in Physics (Berkeley, Los Angeles, London: University of California Press, 1996), pp. 371–372.
Ann M. Hentschel, “Peripatitic Highlights in Bern,” Phys. in Perspec. 7 (2005), 107–129; reprinted in John S. Rigden and Roger H. Stuewer, ed., The Physical Tourist: A Science Guide for the Traveler (Basel, Boston, Berlin: Birkhäuser, 2009), pp. 121–143.
Dieter Hoffmann, “Physics in Berlin: A Walk through the Historical City Center,” Phys. in Perspec. 1 (1999), 445–454; reprinted in Rigden and Stuewer, The Physical Tourist (ref. 3), pp. 81–90.
Dieter Hoffmann, “Physics in Berlin: Walking tours in Charlottenburg and Dahlem and Excursions in the Vicinity of Berlin,” Phys. in Perspec. 2 (2000), 426–445; reprinted in Rigden and Stuewer, The Physical Tourist (ref. 3), pp. 91–110.
Felicity Pors and Finn Aaserud, “Historical Sites of Physical Science in Copenhagen,” Phys. in Perspec. 3 (2001), 230–248; reprinted in Rigden and Stuewer, The Physical Tourist (ref. 3), pp. 55–72.
A. Einstein, B. Podolsky, and N. Rosen, “Can Quantum–Mechanical Description of Physical Reality Be Considered Complete?” Physical Review 47 (1935), 777–780; reprinted in John Archibald Wheeler and Wojciech Hubert Zurek, ed., Quantum Theory and Measurement (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1983), pp. 138–141. N. Bohr, “Can Quantum–Mechanical Description of Physical Reality be Considered Complete?” ibid. 48 (1935), 696-702; reprinted in Wheeler and Zurek, ibid., pp. 145–151.
Klaus Hentschel, “Some Historical Points of Interest in Göttingen,” Phys. in Perspec. 1 (1999), 110–117; reprinted in Rigden and Stuewer, The Physical Tourist (ref. 3), pp. 111–119.
Acknowledgments
We thank Roger H. Stuewer for many helpful suggestions and for his thoughtful and careful editorial work. Our course would not have been possible without the help of the following individuals in making local arrangements: Helmut Trischler (Munich), Juerg Rub (Bern), Alice Bergfeld and Michael Seadle (Berlin), Felicity Pors and Finn Aaserud (Copenhagen), and Julika Mimkes (Göttingen).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Gerd Kortemeyer is Assistant Professor of Physics at Michigan State University. Catherine Westfall is Visiting Associate Professor of History of Science at Michigan State University.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Kortemeyer, G., Westfall, C. The Physical Tourist. Phys. Perspect. 12, 89–99 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00016-009-0005-x
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00016-009-0005-x
Keywords
- Niels Bohr
- Max Born
- Albert Einstein
- Otto Hahn
- Werner Heisenberg
- Lise Meitner
- J. Robert Oppenheimer
- Wolfgang Pauli
- Max Planck
- Erwin Schrödinger
- Arnold Sommerfeld
- Fritz Strassmann
- University of Munich
- Deutsches Museum
- Kerschensteiner Kolleg
- University of Bern
- Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule
- University of Zurich
- University of Berlin
- Humboldt University
- Deutsches Technik Museum
- Caputh
- Niels Bohr Institute
- Niels Bohr Archive
- University of Göttingen
- relativity theory
- quantum theory