Book to Note

Weldon Vlasak, editor. Planck’s Columbia Lectures. Clatonia, NE: Adaptive Enterprises, 2005. 479 pp. $28.95.

Reviewed by Christopher P. Munden

Max Planck’s announcement in 1900 of his quantum theory revolutionized physics. The idea that energy was emitted in discrete values (quanta) was key to the understanding of atomic processes and the development of modern physical sciences. In 1908 Planck went to Columbia University to present a series of eight lectures on his newly discovered theory. First published in 1915, Planck’s detailed descriptions of the theory are surprisingly intelligible and, as Weldon Vlasak’s new commentary makes clear, are based soundly upon the laws of chemistry. In several lectures—presented here in both unabridged and more accessible abridged translations—Planck uses chemical reactions to illustrate the derivation of physical laws.

Quantum mechanics is often presented as a dense and incomprehensible series of equations. Those interested in the subject may find the descriptions of the theory upon which it is based a welcome introduction to the subject. Historians of science will welcome a new edition of this important but until now rare collection of lectures.