Hans Bethe lecture, My Relation to the Early Quantum Mechanics, November 21, 1977

AIP History
AIP History
45,688
0
Published 2022-04-04
Theodore Ducas begins the lecture event, held at MIT on November 21, 1977, by introducing Victor Weisskopf, who, in turn, introduces his longtime collaborator and friend, Hans Bethe. Bethe's lecture covers his experiences with early quantum mechanics. Subjects include: The limited early understanding and teaching of quantum mechanics at the University of Frankfurt in the 1920s; Bethe's eventual transfer to the University of Munich where he continued to develop his understanding of quantum mechanics with Arnold Sommerfeld; How his education was influenced by Erwin Schrödinger’s work; Werner Heisenberg’s matrix theory; Louis de Broglie’s wave theories; P.A.M. Dirac’s conclusions about light waves and light quanta; Bethe's thesis work on electron scattering. Other scientists mentioned are Enrico Fermi, Felix Bloch, Wolfgang Pauli, and Paul Peter Ewald. At the end of his lecture, Bethe takes questions from the audience and Weisskopf tells a story about Max Planck.

This video recording contains the second lecture of two in the Quantum Mechanics series, held at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the 1970s. The series was organized by Theodore Ducas, (Professor of Physics emeritus, Wellesley College). The series titles are as follows: Part 1: “My Life as a Physicist,” Victor Weisskopf, January 13, 1977; Part 2: “My Relation to the Early Quantum Mechanics,” Hans Bethe, November 21, 1977.


The video forms a part of the Niels Bohr Library & Archives Collections, AV 2022-2705. Please contact [email protected] if you wish to use or quote.
Audio and video quality decrease at a few points in the video.

A catalog record can be found here: libserv.aip.org/ipac20/ipac.jsp?session=16488HP78V…

Acknowledgments by Theodore Ducas.
All Comments (21)
  • @kw7807
    Professor Bethe, was an interesting man-I saw him at UCR and asked him a question about his attempted application of the standard model to the problem of solar phenomena.
  • @arbab64
    It is a great lecture by a great person to whom we owe much for our present understanding of theoretical physics.
  • @mndance165
    Old world brilliance on display…humbling when we think of our intellectual world today…
  • @gpwbernardrementillachairm3736
    You all have done greatest service to humanity in bringing up & presenting to the World facts & truth of natural mathematical sciences directly from the context of the true heroes of 20th Century & 21st Century Science, Engineering & Technology personalities: both the pillars, the pioneers, the mathematical scientists themselves, including the students very much alive historically in the true spirits of human knowledge & understanding - with sense of life, wits & humors. Thank you AIP, Thank you MIT, Thank you ALL. - Gpw Bernard Bautista
  • @gibbogle9486
    Surely the sound could be better synchronised with the video? It is minutes off.
  • @donclay3511
    Probably can't do anything about it now, but the sound is way ahead of the video.
  • @jcriley7695
    13:00 is hilarious. Scan back a few minutes to the guy who brings him out and it will make sense. It's a good one!
  • @tedstriker5991
    Make sure both left and right channels have equal volume audio when you post. Easy fix in editing software.