Description:

Paul Langevin ALS Mentioning 7th Solvay Conference & Future Nobel Prize Winners Blackett & Walton

A 2pp autograph letter in French signed by Paul Langevin (1872-1946), the preeminent French physicist, as "P Langevin" near the top of the second page. Written in Paris, France on September 11, 1933, on either side of a single leaf of stationery with "École Municipale / De / Physique et De Chimie / Industrielles" [trans: "Municipal School of Industrial Physics and Chemistry"] letterhead. Expected wear including even toning and transmittal folds, the horizontal fold with a slight closed tear located at the left edge. A tiny chip at the top, and slightly fly-specked, with a reversible pencil inscription, else near fine. 5.25" x 8.25."

In this remarkable letter to an unidentified male colleague, Paul Langevin refers to future Nobel Prize-winning physicists Patrick Blackett (1897-1974) and Ernest Walton (1903-1995) in relation to the upcoming 7th Solvay Conference to be held in Brussels, Belgium in late October 1933.

Punctuation has been silently added to improve clarity. Translated in full:

"My dear friend,

You should have received copies of the reports for the Solvay Conference, that I would have wanted to get to you earlier, but that receiving them and reproducing them took more time than I thought -- and I have just come through a particularly troubled period -- I must apologize to you for not having responded to your letter from last May concerning establishing a list of invitations -- M. Blackett has accepted to come to Brussels -- The secretarial duties, like three years ago, will only be organized at the beginning of October, at the moment when a definitive list of participants will be sent -- I intend to introduce M. Walton, either as a replacement or as secretary. I thank you for having signaled to me all the interest attached to the presence of these gentlemen.

Affectionately yours,
P Langevin."

Paul Langevin chaired the 6th and 7th Solvay Conferences in Physics held in 1930 and 1933 respectively. The Solvay Conferences were a series of workshops that discussed open questions in the fields of physics and chemistry. The Conferences had been held since 1911 through the generous support of the International Solvay Institute for Physics and Chemistry in Brussels, Belgium. The 7th Solvay Conference was held from October 22 - 29, 1933 in Brussels, Belgium, where over 40 conference attendees, including Langevin, Marie Curie, Ernest Rutherford, Enrico Fermi, Wolfgang Pauli, Neils Bohr, Werner Heisenberg, and others discussed the topic, "Structure and properties of atomic nuclei." Also in attendance were Patrick Blackett and Ernest Walton, whom Langevin explicitly mentioned in his letter. Albert Einstein was conspicuously absent from the 7th Conference. (See the attached photo for reference, showing attendees of the 7th Solvay Conference.)

Paul Langevin, Patrick Blackett, and Ernest Walton had all worked with Ernest Rutherford at the Cavendish Laboratory. Blackett specialized in cosmic rays, paleomagnetism, and cloud chambers. He was awarded the 1948 Nobel Prize in Physics. Walton co-developed a particle accelerator named the Cockcroft-Walton generator, for which he was co-awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1951.

Paul Langevin served as the director of the École supérieure de Physique et de Chimie Industrielles de la Ville de Paris from 1925 to 1946. The prestigious school founded in 1882 still offers undergraduate and graduate classes in physics, chemistry, and biology today, and is known as the ESPCI Paris. Langevin had attended school there, as had Marie Curie, and Pierre Curie had served as an instructor there. Langevin developed a way to show or model the movement of molecular systems through a study now called Langevin dynamics. Langevin also contributed to our understanding of magnetism and submarine sonar.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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