Biography Max Bourn

Max Bourne - “Although I am in love with science, I am not left by the feeling that the course of the development of natural sciences is so opposed to the whole history and traditions of mankind that our civilization is simply not able to get involved with this process. The current political and militaristic horrors, the complete decay of ethics - all this I myself witnessed throughout my life.

These horrors can be explained not as a symptom of ephemeral social weakness, but as a necessary consequence of the growth of science, which in itself is one of the highest achievements of the human mind. If so, then a person as a creature is a free and capable of responsible for his actions should come an end. Even if the human race does not bastard a nuclear war, it can degenerate into some kind of foul and wordless creatures living under the tyrant of dictators and dug up with the help of machines and electronic computers.

” A mixture of optimism in relation to the development of science and anxiety from the fact that a person’s sinfulness can turn its achievements into a means of self -destruction - this is the experiences of a German scientist, a Nobel laureate in physics G. He was born on December 11, Max was the son of Anatom and embryologist Gustav Bourne and pianist Margaret Bourn, who, unfortunately, died when the future luminary of quantum physics turned 4 years old.

The first years after the death of his mother, Max and his sister Katya were given to the education of the governess. When Born Jr. was 10 years old, Born Sr. married Bert Lipstein. In general, life went on as usual, and the school years in the gymnasium of Kaiser Wilhelm was an important part. Frankly, Max was not one of her “excellent students”, but it is here that he first feels the delight of science, which will subsequently devote all of himself.

So, unaware of the consequences of his influence, Herr Mashka was the name of the school teacher of physics, became an almost fateful person for Born. The next step is the admission and study at the University of his native Breslau, the very one where the famous Gustav Robert Kirchhof, the discoverer of the fundamental principles of electricity, once gave lectures. Listening to lectures on chemistry and biology, philosophy and physics, mathematics and logic, young Born decides to become ...

an astronomer. However, instead of the troubled contemplation of distant worlds, he feels disappointment: he has to work with almost antediluvian equipment, and the number of monotonous mathematical calculations clearly exceeds the level of his patience and perseverance. Therefore, in search of his destiny, Max Bourne first goes to the University of Heidelberg, then to the Higher Technical School in Zurich, and, finally, to Gettingen, where he listens to the lectures of the famous mathematicians David Gilbert and Hermann Minkovsky.

Along the way, he is enthusiastically involved in seminars on electrodynamics, special theory of relativity and elastic theory. The latter, by the way, will become the theme of his doctoral dissertation, which he will successfully defend in the city immediately after the University of Born was drafted into the army and sent to serve in the cavalry regiment.

The service did not last long because of the tormenting scientist of asthma. Instead of the due year, he served only a few months, but there were enough negative impressions of the army for the rest of his life.

At the age of 27, Max Bourne begins to give lectures at the University of Gettingen, three years later he moves to Chicago and teaches at the university there, and three years later he returns to Germany and becomes an assistant to Max Planck at the University of Berlin. Born himself will later say about the years of teaching and his pedagogical credo: “For me, teaching was pleasant, especially teaching at the university.

In my opinion, the task of presenting scientific truths in such a way as to captivate students and encourage them to think creatively, can only be solved at the level of art similar to the art of a novelist or even a playwright. The same is required for writing textbooks. ” The scientific search for the boron is diverse. It invents the method of calculating the mass of electron, develops a mathematical theory of crystals, solves the problems of the heat of reactions in theoretical chemistry, and also attaches to the latest trends in physics, publishing in the city of quantum mechanics - a new way of describing the phenomena of the microworld, which has become an alternative to classical physics, which is unable to give a number of phenomena open on the line of the XIX - XX - XX - XX - XX - XX - XX - XX - XX - XX - XX - XX - XXx centuries.

The formation of new science was not easy, from time to time discussions flashed in which scientists “crossed swords” in an effort to find the correct interpretation of quantum laws. Bourne also had to participate in this polemic with Schrödinger and Einstein. The latter in G. however, despite the acuteness of disputes, scientists managed to remain friends and maintain mutual respect.

A wide range of Bourne’s interests is amazingly combined with the depth of his understanding of the question being studied. Nevertheless, the scientist himself evaluates his abilities very restrained: “I never liked a narrow specialization, and I always remained an amateur - even in what was considered my own subject.I could not adopt to the science of today, which is made by specialists.

The philosophical side of science interested me more than special results. ” Regarding the inability to “adopt” to the teams of BORN experts, he also said: from G. in this position he stayed up to G. Born worked in Edinburgh there, until he retired in the city of British citizenship, Bourne enters the Christian community of Quakers along with Hedvig Erenberg, with whom they were married in the city of still in the city The spouses see their service to God in actively helping emigrants from continental Europe, looking for salvation from the fascist regime and his unleashed war.

In a sense, Vera Bornov is hereditary: the pedigree Hedwig goes roots in the medieval reform and among her ancestors is the notorious Martin Luther. The attitude of the scientist to the war remains sharply negative. Even when Europe shudders from the battles of the Second World War, he does not want to take part in any developments with a military theme.

However, even at the same time he is burdened by the involvement of science in creating more and more powerful and perfect types of weapons. Later he will say about this: “Although I myself did not take part in the application of scientific knowledge to develop such destructive devices, which are atomic and hydrogen bombs, I still feel that I am a certain responsibility for these things.

If my ideas are true, then the fate of the human race is inevitably connected with the specifics of the person himself, and it represents a creature in which animal instincts with intellectual power are mixed. ” Actively opposing the war as a means of resolving conflicts, Bourne, together with other 11 scientists, will sign the moral side of science in Born, which he speaks like this: “Science makes a scientist a lot of moral and ethical requirements.

If a scientist believes in God, this will facilitate his problem. The scientist must have great patience and humility, and religion can give him these qualities. ” Describing its attitude to faith and its relationship with science, Born declares: “Science left the question of God completely open. Science has no right to judge this ... Many scientists believe in God.

Those who say that the study of sciences makes a person an atheist, probably some funny people. ” The Nobel Prize G. Max Bourne divided with Walter Bota. Bourne was awarded her for the statistical interpretation of the wave function, which was important for the further development of quantum mechanics, while the bot was marked by the same reward for experiments with elementary particles.

Max Bourne spends the last years of his life with his family in Bad Pirmonta near Gettingen, where he returned after two decades spent in the UK. He filled this time by writing books, thinking about the philosophy of science and participation in anti -war movement. The last day of his life was January 5