Quantum theory is one of the great achievements of twentieth century physics. Born at the very beginning of the century, it attained a definitive form by 1932, yet continued to evolve throughout the century. Its applications remain fully a part of modern life. It should thus come as no surprise that literature on the history of quantum theory is vast, but author Robert D. Purrington approaches the story from a new angle, by examining the original physics papers and scientific studies from before the creation of quantum mechanics to how scientists think about and discuss the subject today. The Heroic Age presents for the first time a detailed but compact and manageable history of the creation of quantum theory, and shows precisely where each important idea originated. Purrington provides the history of the crucial developmental years of quantum theory with an emphasis on the literature rather than an overview of this period focusing on personalities or personal stories of the scientists involved. This book instead focuses on how the theoretical discoveries came about, when and where they were published, and how they became accepted as part of the scientific canon.

Robert D. Purrington is Professor Emeritus of Physics at Tulane University. He has been a theoretical physicist for nearly a half-century, teaching quantum mechanics at the graduate and advanced undergraduate level throughout his career.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS PREFACE PART I. FORBEARS 1. "CLOUDS ON THE HORIZON": NINETEENTH-CENTURY ORIGINS AND THE "OLD QUANTUM THEORY" 2. 1913: THE BOHR THEORY OF THE HYDROGEN ATOM 3. TYRANNY OF DATA: ATOMIC SPECTROSCOPY TO 1925 4. AFTER THE WAR: QUANTUM THEORY ADRIFT; THE CORRESPONDENCE PRINCPLE PART II. THEORY 5. AT THE CREATION: THE "NEW QUANTUM THEORY" 6. THE ORIGINS OF WAVE MECHANICS 7. THE END OF CERTAINTY: UNCERTAINTY AND INDETERMINISM 8. FORMALISM, PART I. TRANSFORMATION THEORY 9. FORMALISM, PART II. UNITARITY AND HILBERT SPACE 10. INTRINISC SPIN, THE EXCLUSION PRINCIPLE, AND STATISTICS 11. ANGULAR MOMENTUM, SYMMETRIES, AND CONSERVATION LAWS 12. SCATTERING AND REACTION THEORY 13. RELATIVISTIC QUANTUM MECHANICS AND QUANTUM FIELD THEORY TO 1940: THE RISE OF PARTICLE PHYSICS 14. FOUNDATIONS AND PHILOSOPHY OF QUANTUM MECHANICS: INTERPRETATION AND THE MEASUREMENT PROBLEM PART III. APPLICATIONS: ATOMIC AND NUCLEAR PHYSICS 15. NUCLEAR PHYSICS: THE FIRST THREE DECADES 16. QUANTUM THEORY AND THE BIRTH OF STELLAR ASTROPHYSICS 17. ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS 18. CONDENSED MATTER: SOLIDS AND QUANTUM LIQUIDS 19. EPILOGUE PART IV APPENDIX. HEISENBERG'S ARGUMENT