50 Years Ago

'Obituary: Prof. James Franck' — I remember his famous lecture ... which gave strong support to Bohr's new theory of the atom. Einstein said to me: “It's so lovely, it makes you cry!” ... In 1920 Franck was called to a chair in Göttingen ... many honours ... have come his way, among them the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1926 jointly with Hertz ... Göttingen saw Franck's happiest and most fruitful period ... Those happy days ended when Hitler came to power. When the racial laws were announced, Franck published a courageous open letter in which he resigned his chair ... He was the most lovable of men because he loved people; kindness shone from his eyes. There must be many beside myself who now feel they have lost one of their best friends. Lise Meitner

From Nature 29 August 1964

100 Years Ago

The Trail of the Sandhill Stag by E. T. Seton; Wild Game in Zambezia by R. C. F. Maugham — The first of the books before us aims rather at being a work of art than of natural history ... Never since the days of melancholy Jacques was such an outpour of sentiment upon a stricken deer. To those who like this mood the book may be recommended, for it is curiously wrought and daintily embellished ... The second book on the list strikes quite another strain ... But the list of stores required by two persons for a trip of two months is startling. It almost shakes one's confidence in the author to learn that he cannot go into camp with a friend for two months without a dozen tins each of lobster and salmon, two dozen tins of sausages, and three dozen tins of fruit in syrup.

From Nature 27 August 1914