The little-known story of how two of history’s greatest physicists waged a war over the existence of the atom and the nature of reality itself THE GREAT ATOM DEBATE Preorder now at www.amazon.com/dp/1541607228/ www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-great-... bookshop.org/p/books/the-... #BookSky #Books

When Niels Bohr fled Nazi-occupied Denmark in a fishing boat to Sweden, and then in a high-altitude plane to England, he clutched what he thought was a precious vial of heavy water used to moderate nuclear reactions. In his haste, however, he had brought a bottle of beer instead! #Bohr #physics

Richard Feynman was not just an extraordinary physicist, he was also a talented artist. Taught by the innovative artist Jirayr 'Jerry' Zorthian, their works were once exhibited together: web.archive.org/web/20160316... #Feynman #physics #science

Delighted to announce that Nobel laureate P. James E. Peebles has endorsed THE GREAT ATOM DEBATE, praising it as 'a fascinating account of the roles Ernst Mach and Ludwig Boltzmann played in the establishment of modern physics.' Now available for preorder: amazon.com/gp/product/1... #BookSky

'It strikes me as unfair, and even in bad taste, to select a few individuals for boundless admiration, attributing superhuman powers of mind and character to them. This has been my fate...' -Albert Einstein #Einstein #physics #science

'We are at the very beginning of time for the human race. It is not unreasonable that we grapple with problems... Our responsibility is to do what we can, learn what we can, improve the solutions, and pass them on.' -Richard Feynman, "The Value of Science" (1955) #Feynman #physics #science

Final blackboards of renowned physicists: Richard Feynman Albert Einstein Niels Bohr #histSTM #Feynman #Einstein #Bohr

Albert Einstein sitting on a rock on the beach with his friend, department store owner David Rothman, at Horseshoe Cove in Nassau Point, Long Island, summer 1939 rarehistoricalphotos.com/einstein-at-... (It appears that the photo was colorized, but is not labelled as such) #Einstein #science

'What fire there was in his playing!' Hans Byland, Albert Einstein's musical classmate at the Aarau school in Switzerland, recalling Einstein's gorgeous renditions of Mozart and others on the violin. (from Einstein: A Life, by Denis Brian) #Einstein #science #physics

In 1921, a fanatical, antisemitic German nationalist named Rudolph Leibus declared that he would pay anyone who would murder Albert Einstein. Found guilty of making a murderous threat, a Berlin judge fined him $16 (in the equivalent of German marks)! #Einstein

Book Review: Welcome to Your Life: Love, Death & Tears For Fears  -  An Iconic Musician's Journey Through Grief, Addiction, and Recovery by Roland Orzabal open.substack.com/pub/paulhalp... #TearsforFears #RolandOrzabal

The Simple Algebraic Formula for Success in Life... According to Albert Einstein: A = X + Y + Z Where: A stands for success in life, X stands for work, Y stands for play, And Z, according to Einstein, stands for "keeping one's mouth shut" nytimes.com/1929/08/18/a... #Einstein

Ludwig Boltzmann, founder of statistical mechanics, visited newly created Stanford University in 1905 and wrote: "In Europe if a rich lady goes crazy she buys herself a dozen cats or a parrot; here she engages first-rate architects and builds a university" #Science #Physics #Boltzmann

Physicists' graves with the equations that helped make them famous: Erwin Schrödinger Max Born Ludwig Boltzmann Stephen Hawking #science #physics #schroedinger #born #boltzmann #hawking

information theory does to you what statistical mechanics did do them

Paul Halpern's new book garners endorsements from Nobel laureate P. James E. Peebles, praising it as 'a fascinating account of the roles Ernst Mach and Ludwig Boltzmann played in the establishment of modern physics.' THE GREAT ATOM DEBATE www.amazon.com/gp/product/1...

On July 4, 1905 groundbreaking physicist Ludwig Boltzmann joyously celebrated during a visit to California. Fourteen months later, he'd take his own life. THE GREAT ATOM DEBATE explores the complex reasons behind that tragic turn of events. Preorder now: amazon.com/Great-Atom-D... #BookSky

A fascinating little snippet on Schrödinger: Helge Kragh analyses his poetry and prose. arxiv.org/abs/2607.29497

Erwin Schroedinger: His Poetry and Fragment of a Galilean Dialogue

While Erwin Schroedinger's contributions to quantum mechanics and other areas of theoretical physics are very well known, his works as a poet and literary writer are usually ignored. In this paper I r...

arxiv.org

Very cool 😎 . I remember watching a video of Feynman teaching and he had the students enthralled

Paul Halpern@phalpern.bsky.social · 4d ago

Final blackboards of renowned physicists: Richard Feynman Albert Einstein Niels Bohr #histSTM #Feynman #Einstein #Bohr

Long live blackboards! I still use them to teach introductory physics, despite the messy aspects of chalk dust. Great piece, Philip! Thanks for sharing.

Philip Ball@philipcball.bsky.social · 2d ago

physicsworld.com/a/the-power-...

physicsworld.com/a/the-power-...

The power of the blackboard – Physics World

<b>Philip Ball</b> on why we physicists still love our blackboards

physicsworld.com

Quantum pioneer Niels Bohr was known as brilliant, soft-spoken, and absent-minded. Once, during a lecture, he wanted to dim the lights. He pressed the wrong button, and the platform on which he was standing lowered until he sank beneath the stage. Nonetheless, he kept talking! #Bohr #quantum

Richard Feynman's most famous course at Caltech was called 'Physics X.' It was open to undergraduates only (at that time, very unfairly, exclusively males). The only instructions were 'Ask me anything about physics!' and Feynman would take it from there. #physics #Feynman #science #Caltech

Physicist Ludwig Boltzmann wrote a beautiful ode to New York City: 'Whenever I enter New York Harbor I am seized by a kind of ecstasy. The towering buildings and the Statue of Liberty with the torch held up high! If I were a musician I would compose a symphony' #Boltzmann #science #physics

Discovering Pluto: The Bold Quest for Planet X Exclusive Vintage Interview with the Discoverer of Pluto, Astronomer Clyde Tombaugh - March 1996 open.substack.com/pub/paulhalp... #Science #Pluto #Astronomy

Discovering Pluto: The Bold Quest for Planet X

Exclusive Vintage Interview with the Discoverer of Pluto, Astronomer Clyde Tombaugh - March 1996

open.substack.com

On a warm summer day it is always delightful to head to the coastal villages of Long Island and join Albert Einstein for tea and conversation on the porch of his house. Presuming it is the year 1937, that is... #Einstein #science #physics

My pledge as a writer: I am personally responsible for all of the archival and online research that goes into my writings and posts. I don't use any form of artificial intelligence in my research and writing. I verify everything, and if shown to be wrong, immediately correct! #BookSky #writing

Albert Einstein at the age of 19, during his university years at the ETH (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology) in Zürich, Switzerland. His thoughts at that time about light's behavior would later lead him to the special theory of relativity. (Photo courtesy of ETH Bibliothek)

'What fire there was in his playing!' Hans Byland, Albert Einstein's musical classmate at the Aarau school in Switzerland, recalling Einstein's gorgeous renditions of Mozart and others on the violin. (from Einstein: A Life, by Denis Brian) #Einstein #science #physics

It's hard to know yourself from the inside. Astronomers are still figuring out what our home galaxy looks like; a new study reveals updated locations for the Milky Way's spiral arms. This is where we are. 🧪🔭 www.esa.int/Science_Expl...