Lot 154
Planck Max 1858 - 1947 Nobel prize laureate Max Planck, while acting President of the Kaiser Wilhelm Society, invites Dr. August Heisler to become a member
Single page letter, 8" x 11.5", composed in his native German, on Stationary stock of The President of the Kaiser Wilheim Society. Dated "2 Oktober 1936", and signed by Max Planck as "Planck". Faint toning, slight creasing along top edge, else near fine condition. Accompanied with a typed translation into English.
Max Planck, known for his work on quantum theory having been awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1918, revolutionized human understanding of atomic and subatomic processes. His significant contributions include the supposition of "The Planck constant," which is related to the quantization of light and matter. It can be seen as a subatomic scale constant. The discovery of Planck's constant enabled him to define a new universal set of physical units (such as the Planck length and the Planck mass), all based on fundamental physical constants upon which much of quantum theory is based.
Planck was also known for proposing 'Planck time' the unit of time in the system of natural units known as Planck units, it is the time required for light to travel, in a vacuum a distance of 1 Planck length, approximately 5.39 Ê 10-44 s. He was also among the few who immediately recognized the significance of The Special Theory Of Relativity proposed by Einstein, and thanks to his influence, this theory was soon widely accepted in Germany. Planck also contributed considerably to extend the special theory of relativity. For example, he recast the theory in terms of classical action. The two physicists chasing similar paths necessitated them to consider each other's theories and on occasion work together.
Einstein's hypothesis of light quanta (photons), based on Heinrich Hertz's 1887 discovery (and further investigation of the photoelectric effect, was initially rejected by Planck. He was unwilling to discard completely the current theory of electrodynamics. "The theory of light would be thrown back not by decades, but by centuries, into the age when Huggens dared to fight against the mighty emission theory of Isaac Newton..." However In 1910, Einstein pointed out other anomalous behavior as another example of a phenomenon which defies explanation by classical physics. Planck seeking to clarify the increasing number of contradictions, organized the First Solvay Conference (Brussels 1911). At this meeting Einstein was able to convince Planck. Once Planck had been appointed dean of Berlin University, it was possible for him to call Einstein to Berlin and establish a new professorship for him (1914). Soon the two scientists became close friends and met frequently to play music together.
This letter, (written during one of his two terms as President of the Kaiser Wilhelm Society, which was later renamed in 1948 to the Max Planck Society (MPS)), was written to Dr. August Heisler, who with the help of Albert Schweitzer founded the Foundation "Spiritual emergency" in 1924. Heisler was a follower of a holistic medicine.
Today the Max Planck Society now includes 83 institutions representing a wide range of scientific directions. A scarce important signed letter by one of the fathers of modern physics!
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