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Goudsmit on the discovery of electron spin

lorentz.leidenuniv.nl · 4,616 words · saved by 1 readers

The golden jubilee of the Dutch Physical Society in April 1971 was concluded with a lecture by Samuel Goudsmit on the history of the discovery of the electron spin. Actually, his could hardly be called a polished lecture; it was a grandiose artistic performance, full of wit and emotional involvement. Goudsmit, then at the end of his scientific career, gave a very personal account of how chance and the guidance by Ehrenfest, their far-sighted supervisor, led him and Uhlenbeck to formulate their remarkable discovery. When, in connection with the present book [*], the question turned up how to discuss the early history of electron spin, my thoughts returned to that day, nearly twenty five years ago, when I had been impressed by Goudsmit's truly humane wisdom. After weighing various alternatives I thought: why not let the master speak for himself? Thus I came to translate Goudsmit's historic lecture. Its text was not meant to be published as a paper, but Goudsmit subsequently consented to

Goudsmit on the discovery of electron spin The discovery of the electron spin S.A. Goudsmit The golden jubilee of the Dutch Physical Society in April 1971 was concluded with a lecture by Samuel Goudsmit on the history of the discovery of the electron spin. Actually, his could hardly be called a polished lecture; it was a grandiose artistic performance, full of wit and emotional involvement. Goudsmit, then at the end of his scientific career, gave a very personal account of how chance and the guidance by Ehrenfest, their far-sighted supervisor, led him and Uhlenbeck to formulate their remarkabl

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