What do you think?
Rate this book
Quantum Generations: A History of Physics in the Twentieth Century
At the end of the nineteenth century, some physicists believed that the basic principles underlying their subject were already known, and that physics in the future would only consist of filling in the details. They could hardly have been more wrong. The past century has seen the rise of quantum mechanics, relativity, cosmology, particle physics, and solid-state physics, among other fields. These subjects have fundamentally changed our understanding of space, time, and matter. They have also transformed daily life, inspiring a technological revolution that has included the development of radio, television, lasers, nuclear power, and computers. In Quantum Generations , Helge Kragh, one of the world's leading historians of physics, presents a sweeping account of these extraordinary achievements of the past one hundred years.
The first comprehensive one-volume history of twentieth-century physics, the book takes us from the discovery of X rays in the mid-1890s to superstring theory in the 1990s. Unlike most previous histories of physics, written either from a scientific perspective or from a social and institutional perspective, Quantum Generations combines both approaches. Kragh writes about pure science with the expertise of a trained physicist, while keeping the content accessible to nonspecialists and paying careful attention to practical uses of science, ranging from compact disks to bombs. As a historian, Kragh skillfully outlines the social and economic contexts that have shaped the field in the twentieth century. He writes, for example, about the impact of the two world wars, the fate of physics under Hitler, Mussolini, and Stalin, the role of military research, the emerging leadership of the United States, and the backlash against science that began in the 1960s. He also shows how the revolutionary discoveries of scientists ranging from Einstein, Planck, and Bohr to Stephen Hawking have been built on the great traditions of earlier centuries.
Combining a mastery of detail with a sure sense of the broad contours of historical change, Kragh has written a fitting tribute to the scientists who have played such a decisive role in the making of the modern world.
The first comprehensive one-volume history of twentieth-century physics, the book takes us from the discovery of X rays in the mid-1890s to superstring theory in the 1990s. Unlike most previous histories of physics, written either from a scientific perspective or from a social and institutional perspective, Quantum Generations combines both approaches. Kragh writes about pure science with the expertise of a trained physicist, while keeping the content accessible to nonspecialists and paying careful attention to practical uses of science, ranging from compact disks to bombs. As a historian, Kragh skillfully outlines the social and economic contexts that have shaped the field in the twentieth century. He writes, for example, about the impact of the two world wars, the fate of physics under Hitler, Mussolini, and Stalin, the role of military research, the emerging leadership of the United States, and the backlash against science that began in the 1960s. He also shows how the revolutionary discoveries of scientists ranging from Einstein, Planck, and Bohr to Stephen Hawking have been built on the great traditions of earlier centuries.
Combining a mastery of detail with a sure sense of the broad contours of historical change, Kragh has written a fitting tribute to the scientists who have played such a decisive role in the making of the modern world.
512 pages, Paperback
First published October 4, 1999
17 people are currently reading
347 people want to read
About the author
Helge Kragh
61 books39 followersHelge Stjernholm Kragh is a Danish historian of science.
Kragh studied mathematics and physics at the University of Copenhagen before obtaining his PhD in 1981 at the University of Roskilde. He is a professor at the Centre for Science Studies of Aarhus University.
Kragh's areas of study are the history of physics from the mid-19th century onward, the history of astronomy, the history of cosmology and the history of chemistry.
Kragh studied mathematics and physics at the University of Copenhagen before obtaining his PhD in 1981 at the University of Roskilde. He is a professor at the Centre for Science Studies of Aarhus University.
Kragh's areas of study are the history of physics from the mid-19th century onward, the history of astronomy, the history of cosmology and the history of chemistry.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
November 9, 2017
After reading three of Kragh's books (Cosmology and Controversy [1996], Conceptions of Cosmos [2006] and Higher Speculations [2011]) I decided to read one more - and I am glad I did. Whereas in the earlier mentioned books Kragh delves deeply into science and writes books of 300-400+ pages on just a few topics, Quantum Generations is a much more accessible book. In essence, it's a book about the developments in physical science in the 20th century.
Written in 1997-1999, the book is a little outdated on some topics (such as cosmology), but it gives the reader a comprehensive - and comprehensible! - overview of physics. Each chapter is about 15 pages long and deals with a specific topic, which is a welcome change (in most of his other books, Kragh writes very long and dense chapters of 40+ pages long). Kragh gives detailed explanations about the scientific theories themselves, but also discusses topics such as the militarization of physics after World War II, socio-cultural attitudes towards science, the scientific method as such (and philosophy of science).
The only downside of this book is that some chapters are extremely accessible, and some other chapters - especially towards the end of the book; dealing with high energy physics and grand unification theories - require much more prior knowledge about the respective topics. Kragh could have offered a little bit more background information on topics such as the discovery of new fundamental particles, the development of the weak electromagnetic theory and the gauge field theories of strong interactions. Nevertheless, this was a delightful book to read and helps tremendously to put more basic knowledge of physics in a bigger perspective.
Written in 1997-1999, the book is a little outdated on some topics (such as cosmology), but it gives the reader a comprehensive - and comprehensible! - overview of physics. Each chapter is about 15 pages long and deals with a specific topic, which is a welcome change (in most of his other books, Kragh writes very long and dense chapters of 40+ pages long). Kragh gives detailed explanations about the scientific theories themselves, but also discusses topics such as the militarization of physics after World War II, socio-cultural attitudes towards science, the scientific method as such (and philosophy of science).
The only downside of this book is that some chapters are extremely accessible, and some other chapters - especially towards the end of the book; dealing with high energy physics and grand unification theories - require much more prior knowledge about the respective topics. Kragh could have offered a little bit more background information on topics such as the discovery of new fundamental particles, the development of the weak electromagnetic theory and the gauge field theories of strong interactions. Nevertheless, this was a delightful book to read and helps tremendously to put more basic knowledge of physics in a bigger perspective.
December 18, 2018
The history of Physics is fraught with twists and turns, stops and starts. This is especially true of the 20th century. At the beginning of that time, scientists publicly announced that nothing major was left to discover in Physics, the only things left to cover were tiny details to fill in. Our knowledge of the universe would be complete.
We know looking back how that turned out, X-Rays were discovered, Blackbody Radiation was explained through quantum effects, Relativity came into vogue, and so on. In fact, so many significant events happened in the 20th century that the author informs us at the preface that this book doesn’t do it justice.
Quantum Generations by Helge Kragh is the book that discusses all of this and more. It talks about the state of physics at the turn of the century. For instance, who was your average physicist? What philosophies did they embrace? How did they view the world in general? What paradigms did they espouse? It makes for rather fascinating reading, to be honest. I mean, Kragh even provides demographic information. Although he states that a lot of the information is scanty and inadequately covers a lot of detail, I believe it does a good job.
The book is divided into three main sections by chronology. The first one covers the period of time from the discovery of x-rays up to the end of World War I. The second section covers the period of time up until the end of World War II. The third section covers the remainder of the century up to around 1998 or so.
The book is really good, the only fault I have against it is the lack of images. There are a lot of graphs and tables of demographic data, but no pictures. Honestly, that is the only complaint I have against this book.
We know looking back how that turned out, X-Rays were discovered, Blackbody Radiation was explained through quantum effects, Relativity came into vogue, and so on. In fact, so many significant events happened in the 20th century that the author informs us at the preface that this book doesn’t do it justice.
Quantum Generations by Helge Kragh is the book that discusses all of this and more. It talks about the state of physics at the turn of the century. For instance, who was your average physicist? What philosophies did they embrace? How did they view the world in general? What paradigms did they espouse? It makes for rather fascinating reading, to be honest. I mean, Kragh even provides demographic information. Although he states that a lot of the information is scanty and inadequately covers a lot of detail, I believe it does a good job.
The book is divided into three main sections by chronology. The first one covers the period of time from the discovery of x-rays up to the end of World War I. The second section covers the period of time up until the end of World War II. The third section covers the remainder of the century up to around 1998 or so.
The book is really good, the only fault I have against it is the lack of images. There are a lot of graphs and tables of demographic data, but no pictures. Honestly, that is the only complaint I have against this book.
Read
March 8, 2016An excellent academic overview of the history of 20th century physics. Kragh's book is notable for its depth, the fact that it takes great pains to be international in its coverage, and because the narrative it puts forward is an even mix of factual information and discussion of historical/methodological/interpretive disputes (of which there are many in the history of physics). As such it distinguishes itself greatly from practically all popular histories of physics, being much more in tune with the questions that academic historians of physics are interested in, and a much richer text as a result.
February 5, 2024
Generaciones cuánticas esboza en gran medida el desarrollo de la física en el siglo pasado, los diferemtes capítulos abordan las diferentes ramas de la física que nacieron o tuvieron desarrollos importantes, esta narrativa sigue los diferentes cambios de paradigma que llevaron a grandes fisicos a postular teorías, desarrollar experimentos y realizar hallazgos de suma importancia. A su vez, analiza los diversos factores sociales y geopolíticos que impulsaron varios avances científicos. Personalmente, considero que es un libro bastante enriquecedor para personas que están interesadas en la física y buscan un campo de investigación cuando no es muy claro el trabajo que se realiza y las fuertes implicaciones que estos tienen.
Además, podria decir que es un texto medianamente accesible, si bien, no es imperativo tener un dominio notable de los temas, si es recomendable tener cierto conocimiento de física, el texto prescinde de ecuaciones y las gráficas aluden más al panorama educativo, producción de artículos, inversiones e ingresos. Sin embargo, la descripción de experimentos y la contraposición de paradigmas a través del tiempo exige un cierto grado de conocimiento o familiaridad con la física.
Buen libro.
Además, podria decir que es un texto medianamente accesible, si bien, no es imperativo tener un dominio notable de los temas, si es recomendable tener cierto conocimiento de física, el texto prescinde de ecuaciones y las gráficas aluden más al panorama educativo, producción de artículos, inversiones e ingresos. Sin embargo, la descripción de experimentos y la contraposición de paradigmas a través del tiempo exige un cierto grado de conocimiento o familiaridad con la física.
Buen libro.
September 14, 2021
Best history that's been written to date of the development of modern physics from the late 19th century to now. Every physicist, student of physics, or student of the epistemology of science, should read it.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews