No question about it, the 1920s were a heroic time in physics. There were truly giants on the Earth in those days, when stunning new insights into the world of the atom were being developed. The Quantum Ten is one of a spate of new books that has been coming out to explore this rather extraordinary period in the history of physics.
Jones’s approach is to take ten of the key players in the development of quantum mechanics and tell their stories, centering on the famous Solvay Conference in 1927. A glance at the dust jacket is enough to impress anyone who has studied this period. There we find the official conference photograph, with the participants all in their formal European coats and ties, with Albert Einstein, Niels Bohr, and Werner Heisenberg among other familiar faces staring at the camera. Except for Erwin Schrödinger, who seems to be staring off...
