The Collected Works of P. A. M. Dirac: Volume 1: 1924–1948

by Paul A.M. Dirac

P. A. M. Dirac was one of this century's most outstanding theoretical physicists. Among many fundamental advances, he formulated a fully relativistic theory of the electron, and predicted the existence of the positron. Dirac was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1933, at the age of just thirty-one. This volume brings together for the first time all of Dirac's scientific publications from 1924 until 1948, his most productive years. Each paper is reproduced in its original form and, for the few not in English, a matching translation is provided. Also included here are reset versions of Dirac's hitherto unpublished wartime research papers. This comprehensive collection will provide a valuable and convenient reference source, and will allow students of the history of science to trace the development of the ideas of one of the founders of quantum mechanics.

1334 pages, Hardcover

First published October 26, 1995

About the author

Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac was an English theoretical physicist who made fundamental contributions to the early development of both quantum mechanics and quantum electrodynamics. He was the Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge, a member of the Center for Theoretical Studies, University of Miami, and spent the last decade of his life at Florida State University.

Among other discoveries, he formulated the Dirac equation which describes the behaviour of fermions and predicted the existence of antimatter. Dirac shared the 1933 Nobel Prize in Physics with Erwin Schrödinger "for the discovery of new productive forms of atomic theory". He also made significant contributions to the reconciliation of general relativity with quantum mechanics.