Dirac's Claim and the Chemists

Physics in Perspective

Volumn 4, Issue 3, 2002, Pages 253-266

  Simões, Ana ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF LISBON   (Portugal)

Author keywords

Chemists and physicists; Dirac's claim; John H. Van Vleck; Paul A. M. Dirac; Quantum chemistry; Reductionism; Robert S. Mulliken

Indexed keywords

EID: 19044383738     PISSN: 14226944     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1007/s00016-002-8369-1     Document Type: Article

References (34)

1. In H. Primas, "Was sind Elektronen?," Helvetic Chimica Acta 47 (1964), 1840-1851, on 1840.
2. P. A. M. Dirac, "Quantum Mechanics of Many-Electron Systems," Proceedings of the Royal Society of London A 123 (1929), 714-733, on 714, italics mine.
3. Preface, "A new century of theoretical chemistry," Theoretical Chemistry Accounts 103 (2000).
4. Werner Kutzelnigg, "Perspective on 'Quantum mechanics of many-electron systems'," Theoretical Chemistry Accounts 103 (2000), 182-186.
5. See especially Kostas Gavroglu and Ana Simões, "The Americans, the Germans and the Beginnings of Quantum Chemistry: The Confluence of Diverging Traditions," Historical Studies in the Physical Sciences 25 (1994), 47-110; Ana Simões and Kostas Gavroglu, "Quantum Chemistry qua Applied Mathematics. The contributions of Charles Alfred Coulson (1910-1974)," Historical Studies in the Physical Sciences 29 (1999), 363-406; Ana Simões and Kostas Gavroglu, "Quantum Chemistry in Great Britain: Developing a Mathematical Framework for Quantum Chemistry," Studies in the History and Philosophy of Modern Physics 31 (2000), 511-548.
6. See especially Kostas Gavroglu and Ana Simões, "The Americans, the Germans and the Beginnings of Quantum Chemistry: The Confluence of Diverging Traditions," Historical Studies in the Physical Sciences 25 (1994), 47-110; Ana Simões and Kostas Gavroglu, "Quantum Chemistry qua Applied Mathematics. The contributions of Charles Alfred Coulson (1910-1974)," Historical Studies in the Physical Sciences 29 (1999), 363-406; Ana Simões and Kostas Gavroglu, "Quantum Chemistry in Great Britain: Developing a Mathematical Framework for Quantum Chemistry," Studies in the History and Philosophy of Modern Physics 31 (2000), 511-548.
7. See especially Kostas Gavroglu and Ana Simões, "The Americans, the Germans and the Beginnings of Quantum Chemistry: The Confluence of Diverging Traditions," Historical Studies in the Physical Sciences 25 (1994), 47-110; Ana Simões and Kostas Gavroglu, "Quantum Chemistry qua Applied Mathematics. The contributions of Charles Alfred Coulson (1910-1974)," Historical Studies in the Physical Sciences 29 (1999), 363-406; Ana Simões and Kostas Gavroglu, "Quantum Chemistry in Great Britain: Developing a Mathematical Framework for Quantum Chemistry," Studies in the History and Philosophy of Modern Physics 31 (2000), 511-548.
8. Dirac, "Quantum Mechanics" (ref. 2), 714.
9. J. H. Van Vleck, "Spin, the Great Indicator of Valence Behaviour," in Symposium: Fifty Years of Valence Theory, Pure and Applied Chemistry 24 (1970), 235-255, on 243.
10. Book Review of Generalized Thermodynamics by Laszlo Tisza, American Journal of Physics 35 (1976), 654-655.
11. J. A. Wheeler, "From Mendeléev's atom to the collapsing star," Transactions of the New York Academy of Sciences 33 (1971), 745-779.
12. E. P. Wigner, "Relativistic invariance in quantum mechanics," Il Nuovo Cimento 3 (1976), 517-532.
13. G. C. Schatz and A. Kupperman, "Quantum mechanical reactive scattering for three-dimensional atom plus diatom systems. II. Accurate cross sections for H + H2*," Journal of Chemical Physics 65 (1976), 4668-4692.
14. R. K. Boyd, "Macroscopic and microscopic restrictions on chemical kinetics," Chemical Reviews 77 (1977), 93-118.
15. R. G. Parr and B. L. Crawford, "National Academy of Sciences Conference on Quantum-Mechanical Methods in Valence Theory," Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 38 (1952), 547-553, on 552. In their summary they gave a short outline of the events preceding the conference; the pressing problems that the conference was planned to help solve; the list of invited chemists and physicists who attended the meeting; and a classification of the contributions.
16. R. G. Parr, "The Description of Molecular Structure," Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 72 (1975), 763-771.
17. R. S. Mulliken and C. C. J. Roothaan, "Broken Bottlenecks and the future of Molecular Quantum Mechanics," Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 45 (1959), 394-398, on 394.
18. R. S. Mulliken, "Spectroscopy, Quantum Chemistry and Molecular Physics," Physics Today (April 1968), 52-57.
19. Ibid., p. 56.
20. E. B. Wilson, "Fifty Years of Quantum Chemistry," Pure and Applied Chemistry 47 (1976), 41-47.
21. Ibid., p. 47.
22. C. J. Balhausen, "Quantum Mechanics and Chemical Bonding in Inorganic Complexes. I. Static Concepts of Bonding; dynamic concepts of valency," Journal of Chemical Education 56 (1979), 215-218.
23. J. H. Van Vleck and A. Sherman, "The quantum theory of valence," Reviews of Modern Physics 7 (1935), 167-227.
24. H. A. Bent, "Uses of History in Teaching Chemistry," Journal of Chemical Education 54 (1977), 462-466.
25. J.-P. Malrieu and D. Maynau, "Un parcours initiatique au problème a N-corps, a l'intention des physico-chimistes. Proposition pédagogique," Journal de Chimie Physique 75 (1978), 31-42.
26. Bent, "Uses of History" (ref. 22), p. 465.
27. Primas, "Was sind Elektronen?" (ref. 1).
28. R. G. Woolley, "Quantum Theory and Molecular Structure," Advances in Physics 25 (1976), 27-52.
29. R. G. Woolley, "Must a Molecule have a Shape?," Journal of the American Chemical Society 100 (1978), 1073-1078; "The Molecular Structure Conundrum," Journal of Chemical Education 62 (1985), 1082-1084; "Quantum Theory and the Molecular Hypothesis," in J. Maruani, ed., Molecules in Physics, Chemistry, and Biology (Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1988), 44-89.
30. R. G. Woolley, "Must a Molecule have a Shape?," Journal of the American Chemical Society 100 (1978), 1073-1078; "The Molecular Structure Conundrum," Journal of Chemical Education 62 (1985), 1082-1084; "Quantum Theory and the Molecular Hypothesis," in J. Maruani, ed., Molecules in Physics, Chemistry, and Biology (Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1988), 44-89.
31. R. G. Woolley, "Must a Molecule have a Shape?," Journal of the American Chemical Society 100 (1978), 1073-1078; "The Molecular Structure Conundrum," Journal of Chemical Education 62 (1985), 1082-1084; "Quantum Theory and the Molecular Hypothesis," in J. Maruani, ed., Molecules in Physics, Chemistry, and Biology (Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1988), 44-89.
32. Van Vleck and Sherman, "The quantum theory of valence" (ref. 21), p. 169.
33. Ana Simões and Kostas Gavroglu, "Issues in the History of Theoretical and Quantum Chemistry 1927-1960," in C. Reinhardt, ed., Chemical Sciences in the Twentieth Century: Bridging Boundaries (Weinheim: Wiley-VCH, 2001), 51-74.
34. Kostas Gavroglu and Ana Simões, "One face or many? The role of textbooks in building the new discipline of quantum chemistry," in Bernardette Bensaude-Vincent and Anders Lundgren, eds., Communicating Chemistry. Textbooks and their Audiences 1789-1939 (Canton, Mass.: Science History Publications, 2000), 415-449.