BETHE'S DOCTORAL THESIS

BETHE, H. A.

Theorie der beugung von elektronen an kristallen.

Leipzig, Ambrosius Barth, 1928. 8vo. In contemporary full cloth with gilt lettering to spine. In "Annalen der Physik", Vierte Folge, Band 87. Entire volume offered. Library labels pasted on the pasted down front free end paper. Stamp to title page, othrewise a fine copy. Pp. 55-129 [Entire volume: (1), 736, VII pp.].

First appearance of Bethe's important doctoral thesis on the theory electron diffraction by nickel crystals which remains of fundamental value in understanding observational data.

"Bethe obtained his doctorate-summa cum laude-in 1928 with a thesis that analyzed and explained the results that Clinton Joseph Davisson and Lester Germer had obtained in their experiments on electron diffraction by nickel crystals. When the de Broglie wave length of electrons is comparable to the lattice spacings of a crystal they diffract in a manner similar to x-rays. Bethe made use of the methods that von Laue and Ewald had formulated for x-ray diffraction by crystals and found that their results could readily and successfully be adapted to the electron case." (DSB).

"Bethe was one of the great physicists of the twentieth century. After the advent of quantum mechanics, in two classic articles published in 1933 in the Handbuch der Physik he detailed the applications of the new quantum theory to atomic and solid state physics. After the discovery of the neutron in 1932 in a series of articles in the Reviews of Modern Physics, he did the same for nuclear physics. In 1938 he formulated the nuclear physics responsible for energy production in stars. During World War II he contributed importantly to the development of radar and of atomic weapons. Because of his involvement in making A- and H-bombs possible, he subsequently devoted considerable efforts in limiting further developments of atomic weaponry and bringing about international agreements for the reduction of extant nuclear weapons and the curtailment of their production and design. He made Cornell University, his base of operation from 1935 until his death, an outstanding center of theoretical physics and a model research community in all branches of physics." (DSB).

Order-nr.: 50283