Planck's persistence in physics has created one of the greatest physicists in the 20th century and opened the door to modern physics for mankind. He once said: "The external world is an absolute existence independent of us, and I think it is the noblest scientific research task to explore the applicable law of this absolute existence." A young man can ignore the advice of a famous mathematician, which shows Planck's love for science at that time. 19 18 In April, Einstein delivered a speech at the celebration of Planck's 60th birthday held by the Berlin Physical Society, saying: "There are all kinds of people living in the palace of science, many of whom give them extraordinary intellectual pleasure just because of science, and many of them are purely utilitarian. If these two types of people are removed, there are still some people left, and Planck is one of them, which is why we love him. " He is the most devout believer in physics.
If the physics building in the19th century was written by Newton and others, then the whole building based on classical physics began with Planck's research on blackbody radiation. The problem with blackbody radiation lies in the long and short bands. Different bands are represented by different formulas in an approximate way, and no one can derive a formula to fit the whole band together. As a thermodynamic scientist, one of Planck's greatest beliefs is the law of conservation of energy. However, when Planck hoped to solve the problem of blackbody radiation through experiments with the help of traditional thermodynamic knowledge, the law of conservation of energy like a panacea failed to help him succeed. He had to turn to statistics. He introduced quantum, that is,
The energy of each part is derived, and the formula that conforms to the whole band is derived. At that time, scientists thought that energy was continuously variable. How can it be quantum? This undoubtedly made the whole physical building start to shake. Even Planck, who put forward this formula himself, finds it hard to believe this conclusion. Planck is lost. As a faithful believer in classical physics, he is in deep trouble.
Quantum hypothesis is a sign that physics has entered a new stage of development, laying a new foundation for the establishment of basic theories of modern physics. Although Planck sometimes hesitates and loses in the face of his quantum hypothesis, as a great physicist, he has not lost his lofty scientific quality and spirit. Planck believes in science, but he is not superstitious about it. Just after he put forward the quantum hypothesis, he even predicted that quantum mechanics would appear in the future. Just after putting forward the quantum hypothesis, Planck explained the meaning to his 6-year-old child and said, "Today, I made a discovery as important as Newton's!" However, Planck, who received strict training in classical physics, felt inexpressible sorrow that his quantum hypothesis led to the "destruction" of classical physics theory, thus limiting him from walking out of the boundaries of classical physics theory.
Although Planck is conservative in putting forward quantum hypothesis, he has unique scientific vision and foresight. 1in June, 905, Einstein put forward the special theory of relativity. At that time, only a few people in the world could really understand the theory of relativity, and the physics community supported the first authority of relativity.
This man is Planck. Planck also gave Einstein other help and care. 19 13 In the summer, Planck went to Bern to hire Einstein as an academician of the Berlin Academy of Sciences. Without the support and propaganda of the respected Planck, Einstein and his theory of relativity could not have attracted people's attention so quickly and established their position in modern physics.
At the beginning of World War I, German scholars published the infamous Declaration to the Civilized World, defending Germany's evil war, and Planck was impressively listed. At the end of World War I, Germany was defeated, and Planck and many other scholars publicly apologized to the civilized world. In less than ten years, Nazi fascism swept through Germany, and German scholars collectively lost their memory, forgot the past of the former dynasty and followed the "Fuhrer" again. When Einstein stood up to fight back against the Nazis, many scientists actually criticized him as "radical". Perhaps it was Planck's blind patriotism that made him a respected scientist in Germany, but he didn't make the right sound. As the German physicist Ewald said, "Planck is a sad figure ..."
Even so, Pumink's contribution to human science is beyond doubt. 1958 On April 25th, at the commemorative meeting to celebrate the 0/00th anniversary of Planck's birth, Heisenberg, a famous German physicist, said, "In the past, many fields gave people a very chaotic feeling, but in Planck's lifetime work field, it showed a simple and bright light."