Article ID: CBB446852324

Quantum Explorers: Bohr, Jordan, and Delbrück Venturing into Biology (2015)

unapi

This paper disentangles selected intertwined aspects of two great scientific developments: quantum mechanics and molecular biology. We look at the contributions of three physicists who in the 1930s were protagonists of the quantum revolution and explorers of the field of biology: Niels Bohr, Pascual Jordan, and Max Delbrück. Their common platform was the defense of the Copenhagen interpretation in physics and the adoption of the principle of complementarity as a way of looking at biology. Bohr addressed the problem of how far the results reached in physics might influence our views about life. Jordan and Delbrück were followers of Bohr’s ideas in the context of quantum mechanics and also of his tendency to expand the implications of the Copenhagen interpretation to biology. We propose that Bohr’s perspective on biology was related to his epistemological views, as Jordan’s was to his political positions. Delbrück’s propensity to migrate was related to his transformation into a key figure in the history of twentieth-century molecular biology.

...More
Citation URI
https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB446852324/

Similar Citations

Article Sloan, Phillip R.; (2012)
How Was Teleology Eliminated in Early Molecular Biology? (/isis/citation/CBB001221597/)

Article McKaughan, Daniel J.; (2005)
The Influence of Niels Bohr on Max Delbrück: Revisiting the Hopes Inspired by “Light and Life” (/isis/citation/CBB000650564/)

Book Jennifer Burwell; (2018)
Quantum Language and the Migration of Scientific Concepts (/isis/citation/CBB682085795/)

Article Duncan, Anthony; Janssen, Michel; (2009)
From Canonical Transformations to Transformation Theory, 1926--1927: The Road to Jordan's Neue Begründung (/isis/citation/CBB000933684/)

Article Duncan, Anthony; Janssen, Michel; (2008)
Pascual Jordan's Resolution of the Conundrum of the Wave-Particle Duality of Light (/isis/citation/CBB000933674/)

Book Zimmer, Karl Günter; Delbrück, Max; Timofeev-Resovskii, N. V.; Sloan, Phillip R.; Fogel, D. Brandon; (2011)
Creating a Physical Biology: The Three-Man Paper and Early Molecular Biology (/isis/citation/CBB001221095/)

Book Wenkel, Simone; Deichmann, Ute; (2007)
Max Delbrück and Cologne: An Early Chapter of German Molecular Biology (/isis/citation/CBB000830131/)

Article Schroer, B.; (2011)
Pascual Jordan's Legacy and the Ongoing Research in Quantum Field Theory (/isis/citation/CBB001033785/)

Article Singh, Rajinder; Riess, Falk; (2012)
Belated Nobel Prize for Max Born FRS (/isis/citation/CBB001253119/)

Book Kumar, Manjit; (2010)
Quantum: Einstein, Bohr, and the Great Debate about the Nature of Reality (/isis/citation/CBB001033184/)

Article Camilleri, Kristian; (2006)
Heisenberg and the Wave-Particle Duality (/isis/citation/CBB000670175/)

Article Seth, Suman; (2008)
Crafting the Quantum: Arnold Sommerfeld and the Older Quantum Theory (/isis/citation/CBB000931142/)

Book Stenholm, Stig; (2011)
The Quest for Reality: Bohr and Wittgenstein: Two Complementary Views (/isis/citation/CBB001500296/)

Article Duncan, Anthony; Janssen, Michel; (2007)
On the Verge of Umdeutung in Minnesota: Van Vleck and the Correspondence Principle. Part One. (/isis/citation/CBB000773023/)

Article Camilleri, Kristian; (2007)
Bohr, Heisenberg and the Divergent Views of Complementarity (/isis/citation/CBB000701043/)

Authors & Contributors
Janssen, Michel
Duncan, Anthony
Sloan, Phillip R.
Camilleri, Kristian
Burwell, Jennifer
Stenholm, Stig
Concepts
Physics
Quantum mechanics
Molecular biology
Biology
Wave-particle duality
Blackbody radiation
Time Periods
20th century, early
20th century
19th century
Places
United States
Germany
Great Britain
Institutions
Universität zu Köln. Institut für Genetik
Comments

Be the first to comment!

{{ comment.created_by.username }} on {{ comment.created_on | date:'medium' }}

Log in or register to comment