Experiment and Theory in Physics

by Max Born

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Genres: Science, Physics, Philosophy

Paperback

First published January 1, 1969

About the author

Max Born (was a German-British physicist and mathematician who was instrumental in the development of quantum mechanics. He also made contributions to solid-state physics and optics and supervised the work of a number of notable physicists in the 1920s and 30s. Born won the 1954 Nobel Prize in Physics (shared with Walther Bothe).

Reviews

[Manny · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this delightful little essay, based on a lecture he gave in 1943, the great Max Born presents a withering criticism of every scientist who believes they can discover the laws of nature by pure thought, unaided by experimental results. Born's specific targets were the British astronomers Eddington and Milne, but the essay is pretty much timeless; if you're that way inclined, it's just as easy to interpret it as criticism of modern string theory. It takes an hour to read and contains some great jokes. As they say, what's not to like?

This was my favourite passage, though there were many others that ran it close:

Charles Darwin, my predecessor in my Edinburgh chair, once said something like this: "The Ordinary Man can see a thing an inch in front of his nose; a few can see things 2 inches distant; if anyone can see 3 inches, he is a man of genius." I have tried to describe to you some of the acts of these 2- or 3-inch men. My admiration of them is not diminished by the consciousness of the fact that they were guided by the experience of the whole human race to the right place in which to poke their noses. I have also not endeavoured to analyse the idea of beauty or perfection or simplicity of a natural law which has often guided the correct divination. I am convinced that such an analysis would lead to nothing; for these ideas are themselves subject to development. We learn something new from every case, and I am not inclined to accept final theories about inevitable laws of the human mind.

[Kiran Kumar · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found it to be interesting and informative. In this Born conveys his reflections on the nature of scientific inquiry and the role of theory and experiment through illustrations. I would like to re-read it again though as I found myself unfamiliar with certain things and couldn't grasp their true extent.