Dissertation Research: Between Politics and Pedagogy: Constructions of Theoretical Physics in Imperial Germany

本论文研究项目提供了德意志帝国(1871-1918)理论物理的文化史。所考虑的一般问题是考察和描述“学科”的发展，从它的多重起源到它的“黄金时代”的开始。在这一总框架规定的范围内，该项目依次处理三个主要问题：确定理论物理学的定义问题；确定一个未被研究的研究学派(索默菲尔德学派)的重要性；以及探索古典物理学和现代物理学之间复杂的相互联系。本文分为三个相应的部分。NSF基金为收集其中两个部分的数据提供了支持。首先，研究人员试图在Fin-De-Sececle中定义“理论物理学”一词，在那个“学科”尚未连贯的时代，它缺乏研究或教学中心、中心文本和共同历史。通过聚焦于所谓的机械世界观“失败”的辩论，研究人员将阐明理论物理研究的实践，而在大学和赫希舒伦理工学院的这门学科的教学将提供一个新的洞察力，工业应用和教育学的重要性，这将成为20世纪最负盛名的科学领域的增长。后一项工作将需要检查亚琛、柏林、德累斯顿、卡尔斯鲁厄和慕尼黑的大学和Hochschule档案馆的课程清单(Vorlesungs-Verzeichnisse)、课堂讲稿和考题。在第2节中，重点被缩小，因为注意力转向实现纪律一致性的手段。该项目的中心部分涉及对索默菲尔德学校的详细研究，既考察了索默菲尔德自己的研究，也考察了他的教学风格。这一部分的研究将集中在慕尼黑德国博物馆的Sommerfeld档案上，不仅包括对Sommerfeld和他在慕尼黑的学生所做工作的技术分析，还将包括对他的学生在其职业生涯早期所做的研究内容的类似检查。

This dissertation research project provides a cultural history of theoretical physics in Imperial Germany (1871-1918). The general problem considered is that of examining and describing the development of the "discipline", from its multiple origins to the beginnings of its "golden-age." Within the boundaries set by this general framework, the project deals in turn with three major problems: that of defining theoretical physics; that of determining the importance of a single understudied research school (the Sommerfeld School); and that of exploring the complex interlinkages between classical and modern physics. The dissertation is divided into three corresponding sections. NSF funding provides support to collect data for two of these sections. In the first, the researcher seeks to define the term "theoretical physics" in the fin-de-siecle, a time when the "discipline" was not yet coherent, when it lacked research or pedagogical centers, central texts and common histories. By focusing on the debate over the so-called "failure" of the mechanical world-view, the researcher will elucidate the practice of theoretical physics research, while a concentration on the teaching of the subject in both universities and Technische Hochschulen will provide a novel insight into the importance of both industrial applications and pedagogy on the growth of what would become the most prestigious scientific field of the twentieth century. This latter work will require the examination of course listings (Vorlesungs-Verzeichnisse), lecture notes and examination questions at university and Hochschule archives in Aachen, Berlin, Dresden, Karlsruhe and Munich. In Section 2 the focus is narrowed, as attention turns to the means by which disciplinary coherence was achieved. The central part of the project involves a detailed study of the Sommerfeld School, looking both at Sommerfeld's own research as well as his pedagogical style. Research for this section will be centered on the Sommerfeld archive at the Deutsches Museum, Munich, and will include not only a technical analysis of the work done by both Sommerfeld and his students in Munich, but also a similar examination of research content for his students early on in their own professional careers.