Abstract
LIKE all other branches of physics, the subject of cohesion has been profoundly modified by the advent of wave mechanics. When atoms were regarded as miniature solar systems, there was no mathematical machinery capable of dealing with their mutual interaction. But now the outlook is different. There is no attempt in wave mechanics to follow the life-history of electrons in atoms. Rather does it give a statistical average of their distribution in space, from which may be inferred the probability that an electron may be found here or found there. Mathematically, if not physically, electrons in atoms are smeared out. Where once was thought a solar system played, is now a shimmering haze.
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The Nature of Cohesion*. Nature 128, 462–463 (1931). https://doi.org/10.1038/128462a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/128462a0
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