The present book has for its object the presentation of the lectures which I delivered as foreign lecturer at Columbia University in the spring of the present year under the title: “The Present System of Theoretical Physics.” The points of view which influenced me in the selection and treatment of the material are given at the beginning of the first lecture. Essentially, they represent the extension of a theoretical physical scheme, the fundamental elements of which I developed in an address at Leyden entitled: “The Unity of the Physical Concept of the Universe.” Therefore I regard it as advantageous to consider again some of the topics of that lecture. The presentation will not and can not, of course, claim to cover exhaustively in all directions the principles of theoretical physics.

The Author.

⁠Berlin, 1909

TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE.

Table of Contents

At the request of the Adams Fund Advisory Committee, and with the consent of the author, the following translation of Professor Planck's Columbia Lectures was undertaken. It is hoped that the translation will be of service to many of those interested in the development of theoretical physics who, in spite of the inevitable loss, prefer a translated text in English to an original text in German. Since the time of the publication of the original text, some of the subjects treated, particularly that of heat radiation, have received much attention, with the result that some of the points of view taken at that time have undergone considerable modifications. The author considers it desirable, however, to have the translation conform to the original text, since the nature and extent of these modifications can best be appreciated by reference to the recent literature relating to the matters in question.

A. P. Wills.

First Lecture.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Reversibility and Irreversibility.

Table of Contents

Colleagues, ladies and gentlemen: The cordial invitation, which the President of Columbia University extended to me to deliver at this prominent center of American science some lectures in the domain of theoretical physics, has inspired in me a sense of the high honor and distinction thus conferred upon me and, in no less degree, a consciousness of the special obligations which, through its acceptance, would be imposed upon me. If I am to count upon meeting in some measure your just expectations, I can succeed only through directing your attention to the branches of my science with which I myself have been specially and deeply concerned, thus exposing myself to the danger that my report in certain respects shall thereby have somewhat too subjective a coloring.

Скачать книгу