INVENTION OF ELECTRON MICROSCOPE - NOBEL PRIZE IN PHYSICS 1986

RUSKA, E [ERNST] (+) M. KNOLL.

Das Elektronenmikroskop.

Berlin, Julius Springer, 1932. 8vo. Bound in a contemporary half cloth. In "Zeitschrift für Physik". Library stamp to free front end-paper and title-page. A nice and clean copy. Pp. 318-339. [Entire volume: VII, 857 pp.].

First printing of Ruska and Knoll's seminal paper in which the first description of an electron microscope appears. This allowed researchers for the first time to view objects as small as the diameter of an atom. Not only did the discovery have profound influence on physics, it also revolutionized biological research, as it now became possible to distinguish individual molecules. Ruska received the Nobel Prize in physics in 1986 for his discovery regarding the electron microscope.

In 1933 the theoretical description presented in the present paper led Ruska to build a two-stage electron microscope with a resolution exceeding that of the optical microscope. The technique behind is largely built upon de Broglie's revolutionary theory regarding the wavelength of electrons.

The volume contains many important contributions to 20th century physics, among others:
Heisenberg, W. Über den Bau der Atomkerne. II. Pp. 156-64:
This is the second paper in a series of three which presents Heisenberg's neutron-proton model. Shortly after Chadwick discoverd the neutron in 1932, Heisenberg developed a theory suggesting that atomic nuclei are composed of protons and neutrons, this introduced the concept of the nuclear exchange force and isotopic spin. (DSB 17: p.398).

Order-nr.: 44352