Abstract
IN the form of three essays the author has given a clear and simple summary of the advances which have been made during the last few years in our knowledge of atomic structure. The first essay consists of a survey of the results obtained by purely physical investigations. It describes the measurement of the charge and mass of the electron, the Kelvin-Thomson model of the atom and the Rutherford-Bohr model which succeeded it, the discovery of the diffraction of X-rays by crystals, and Moseley's work on X-ray spectra and atomic number. A short account is given of Bohr's theory and its development by Sommer-felt, of the general relationships between the spectra of the elements, and of Kossel's work on electro valency, which determines the number of electrons in the several shells surrounding the positively charged nucleus. In the second essay, the former attempts to obtain a mechanical model of the aether are contrasted with the modern conception of all mechanical forces as being electrical in their origin. Our knowledge of crystal structures has made possible a closer examination of the inter-atomic forces in solid bodies; quantitative relationships can be obtained—for instance, in the case of sodium chloride—between purely physical constants, such as the distances between the atoms, the ionic charges, and the compressibility of the solid on one hand and the heat of formation of the compound on the other. This is amplified in the third essay. Both chemistry and physics deal ultimately with the structure of the atom, for the constants which govern chemical reactions are to be explained in terms of the forces between electrons and nucleus in the atomic structure.
Der Aufbau der Materie: Drei Aufsätze über moderne Atomistik und Elektronentheorie.
By Max Born. Pp. v + 81. (Berlin: Julius Springer, 1920.) Price 8.60 marks.
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Der Aufbau der Materie: Drei Aufsätze über moderne Atomistik und Elektronentheorie . Nature 106, 339 (1920). https://doi.org/10.1038/106339b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/106339b0