The
International Solvay Institutes for Physics and Chemistry, located in
BrusselsBrussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
, were founded by the
BelgianBelgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
industrialistIndustry refers to the production of an economic good or service within an economy.-Industrial sectors:There are four key industrial economic sectors: the primary sector, largely raw material extraction industries such as mining and farming; the secondary sector, involving refining, construction,...
Ernest SolvayErnest Gaston Joseph Solvay was a Belgian chemist, industrialist and philanthropist.Born at Rebecq, he was prevented by acute pleurisy from going to university...
in 1912, following the historic invitation-only 1911
Conseil Solvay, the turning point in world
physicsPhysics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...
. The Institutes coordinate conferences, workshops, seminars, and colloquia.
Following the initial success of 1911, the
Solvay Conferences (
Conseils Solvay) have been devoted to outstanding preeminent open problems in both physics and
chemistryChemistry is the science of matter, especially its chemical reactions, but also its composition, structure and properties. Chemistry is concerned with atoms and their interactions with other atoms, and particularly with the properties of chemical bonds....
. The usual schedule is every three years, but there have been larger gaps.
First conference
Hendrik A. LorentzHendrik Antoon Lorentz was a Dutch physicist who shared the 1902 Nobel Prize in Physics with Pieter Zeeman for the discovery and theoretical explanation of the Zeeman effect...
was chairman of the first Solvay Conference held in Brussels in the autumn of 1911. The subject was
Radiation and the Quanta. This conference looked at the problems of having two approaches, namely the
classical physicsPhysics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...
and
quantum theoryQuantum mechanics, also known as quantum physics or quantum theory, is a branch of physics providing a mathematical description of much of the dual particle-like and wave-like behavior and interactions of energy and matter. It departs from classical mechanics primarily at the atomic and subatomic...
.
Albert EinsteinAlbert Einstein was a German-born theoretical physicist who developed the theory of general relativity, effecting a revolution in physics. For this achievement, Einstein is often regarded as the father of modern physics and one of the most prolific intellects in human history...
was the second youngest physicist present (the youngest one was
LindemannFrederick Alexander Lindemann, 1st Viscount Cherwell FRS PC CH was an English physicist who was an influential scientific adviser to the British government, particularly Winston Churchill...
). Other members of the
Solvay Congress included such luminaries as Marie Skłodowska-Curie and
Henri PoincaréJules Henri Poincaré was a French mathematician, theoretical physicist, engineer, and a philosopher of science...
. (See image for attendee list.)
Fifth conference
Perhaps the most famous conference was the October 1927 Fifth Solvay International Conference on
ElectronThe electron is a subatomic particle with a negative elementary electric charge. It has no known components or substructure; in other words, it is generally thought to be an elementary particle. An electron has a mass that is approximately 1/1836 that of the proton...
s and PhotonIn physics, a photon is an elementary particle, the quantum of the electromagnetic interaction and the basic unit of light and all other forms of electromagnetic radiation. It is also the force carrier for the electromagnetic force...
s, where the world's most notable physicists met to discuss the newly formulated quantum theory. The leading figures were Albert Einstein and
Niels BohrNiels Henrik David Bohr was a Danish physicist who made foundational contributions to understanding atomic structure and quantum mechanics, for which he received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1922. Bohr mentored and collaborated with many of the top physicists of the century at his institute in...
. Einstein, disenchanted with
HeisenbergWerner Karl Heisenberg was a German theoretical physicist who made foundational contributions to quantum mechanics and is best known for asserting the uncertainty principle of quantum theory...
's "
Uncertainty PrincipleIn quantum mechanics, the Heisenberg uncertainty principle states a fundamental limit on the accuracy with which certain pairs of physical properties of a particle, such as position and momentum, can be simultaneously known...
," remarked "God does not play dice." Bohr replied, "Einstein, stop telling God what to do." (See
Bohr-Einstein debatesThe Bohr–Einstein debates were a series of public disputes about quantum mechanics between Albert Einstein and Niels Bohr, who were two of its founders. Their debates are remembered because of their importance to the philosophy of science. An account of them has been written by Bohr in an article...
.) Seventeen of the twenty-nine attendees were or became
Nobel PrizeThe Nobel Prizes are annual international awards bestowed by Scandinavian committees in recognition of cultural and scientific advances. The will of the Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, established the prizes in 1895...
winners, including
Marie CurieMarie Skłodowska-Curie was a physicist and chemist famous for her pioneering research on radioactivity. She was the first person honored with two Nobel Prizes—in physics and chemistry...
, who alone among them, had won Nobel Prizes in two separate scientific disciplines.
This conference was also the culmination of the struggle between Einstein and the
Scientific RealistsScientific realism is, at the most general level, the view that the world described by science is the real world, as it is, independent of what we might take it to be...
, who wanted strict rules of
scientific methodScientific method refers to a body of techniques for investigating phenomena, acquiring new knowledge, or correcting and integrating previous knowledge. To be termed scientific, a method of inquiry must be based on gathering empirical and measurable evidence subject to specific principles of...
as laid out by Charles Peirce and
Karl PopperSir Karl Raimund Popper, CH FRS FBA was an Austro-British philosopher and a professor at the London School of Economics...
, versus Bohr and the
InstrumentalistIn the philosophy of science, instrumentalism is the view that a scientific theory is a useful instrument in understanding the world. A concept or theory should be evaluated by how effectively it explains and predicts phenomena, as opposed to how accurately it describes objective...
s, who wanted looser rules based on outcomes. Starting at this point, the instrumentalists won, instrumentalism having been seen as the norm ever since although the debate has been actively continued by the likes of
Alan MusgraveAlan Musgrave is an English born New Zealand philosopher. Musgrave was educated at the London School of Economics with a BA Honours Philosophy and Economics 1961. Sir Karl Popper supervised Musgrave's PhD which was completed in 1969. Musgrave worked as Popper's Research Assistant initially then...
.
A. PiccardAuguste Antoine Piccard was a Swiss physicist, inventor and explorer.-Biography:Piccard and his twin brother Jean Felix were born in Basel, Switzerland...
, E. Henriot, P. EhrenfestPaul Ehrenfest was an Austrian and Dutch physicist, who made major contributions to the field of statistical mechanics and its relations with quantum mechanics, including the theory of phase transition and the Ehrenfest theorem.- Biography :Paul Ehrenfest was born and grew up in Vienna in a Jewish...
, E. Herzen, Th. De DonderThéophile Ernest de Donder was a Belgian mathematician and physicist famous for his 1923 work in developing correlations between the Newtonian concept of chemical affinity and the Gibbsian concept of free energy.-Education:...
, E. SchrödingerErwin Rudolf Josef Alexander Schrödinger was an Austrian physicist and theoretical biologist who was one of the fathers of quantum mechanics, and is famed for a number of important contributions to physics, especially the Schrödinger equation, for which he received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1933...
, J.E. Verschaffelt' was a Belgian physicist. He worked at Kamerlingh Onnes’s laboratory in Leiden from 1894 to 1906 and once again from 1914 to 1923. From 1906 to 1914 he worked at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel and from 1923 to 1940 at the Ghent University.- External links :*...
, W. PauliWolfgang Ernst Pauli was an Austrian theoretical physicist and one of the pioneers of quantum physics. In 1945, after being nominated by Albert Einstein, he received the Nobel Prize in Physics for his "decisive contribution through his discovery of a new law of Nature, the exclusion principle or...
, W. HeisenbergWerner Karl Heisenberg was a German theoretical physicist who made foundational contributions to quantum mechanics and is best known for asserting the uncertainty principle of quantum theory...
, R.H. Fowler, L. BrillouinLéon Nicolas Brillouin was a French physicist. He made contributions to quantum mechanics, radio wave propagation in the atmosphere, solid state physics, and information theory.-Early life:...
;
P. DebyePeter Joseph William Debye FRS was a Dutch physicist and physical chemist, and Nobel laureate in Chemistry.-Early life:...
, M. KnudsenThis article is about the Danish physicist Martin Knudsen. For the Norwegian footballer, see Martin Knudsen .Martin Hans Christian Knudsen was a Danish physicist who taught and conducted research at the Technical University of DenmarkHe is primarily known for his study of molecular gas flow and the...
, W.L. BraggSir William Lawrence Bragg CH OBE MC FRS was an Australian-born British physicist and X-ray crystallographer, discoverer of the Bragg law of X-ray diffraction, which is basic for the determination of crystal structure. He was joint winner of the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1915. He was knighted...
, H.A. KramersHendrik Anthony "Hans" Kramers was a Dutch physicist.-Background and education:...
, P.A.M. DiracPaul Adrien Maurice Dirac, OM, FRS was an English theoretical physicist who made fundamental contributions to the early development of both quantum mechanics and quantum electrodynamics...
, A.H. ComptonArthur Holly Compton was an American physicist and Nobel laureate in physics for his discovery of the Compton effect. He served as Chancellor of Washington University in St. Louis from 1945 to 1953.-Early years:...
, L. de BroglieLouis-Victor-Pierre-Raymond, 7th duc de Broglie, FRS was a French physicist and a Nobel laureate in the year 1929. He was the sixteenth member elected to occupy seat 1 of the Académie française in 1944, and served as Perpetual Secretary of the Académie des sciences, France.-Biography :Louis de...
, M. BornMax Born was a German-born physicist and mathematician who was instrumental in the development of quantum mechanics. He also made contributions to solid-state physics and optics and supervised the work of a number of notable physicists in the 1920s and 30s...
, N. BohrNiels Henrik David Bohr was a Danish physicist who made foundational contributions to understanding atomic structure and quantum mechanics, for which he received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1922. Bohr mentored and collaborated with many of the top physicists of the century at his institute in...
;
I. LangmuirIrving Langmuir was an American chemist and physicist. His most noted publication was the famous 1919 article "The Arrangement of Electrons in Atoms and Molecules" in which, building on Gilbert N. Lewis's cubical atom theory and Walther Kossel's chemical bonding theory, he outlined his...
, M. PlanckMax Karl Ernst Ludwig Planck, ForMemRS, was a German physicist who actualized the quantum physics, initiating a revolution in natural science and philosophy. He is regarded as the founder of the quantum theory, for which he received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1918.-Life and career:Planck came...
, M. CurieMarie Skłodowska-Curie was a physicist and chemist famous for her pioneering research on radioactivity. She was the first person honored with two Nobel Prizes—in physics and chemistry...
, H.A. LorentzHendrik Antoon Lorentz was a Dutch physicist who shared the 1902 Nobel Prize in Physics with Pieter Zeeman for the discovery and theoretical explanation of the Zeeman effect...
, A. EinsteinAlbert Einstein was a German-born theoretical physicist who developed the theory of general relativity, effecting a revolution in physics. For this achievement, Einstein is often regarded as the father of modern physics and one of the most prolific intellects in human history...
, P. LangevinPaul Langevin was a prominent French physicist who developed Langevin dynamics and the Langevin equation. He was one of the founders of the Comité de vigilance des intellectuels antifascistes, an antifascist organization created in the wake of the 6 February 1934 far right riots...
, Ch. E. Guye, C.T.R. WilsonCharles Thomson Rees Wilson, CH, FRS was a Scottish physicist and meteorologist who received the Nobel Prize in physics for his invention of the cloud chamber.- Biography:...
, O.W. RichardsonSir Owen Willans Richardson, FRS was a British physicist who won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1928 for his work on thermionic emission, which led to Richardson's Law.-Biography:...
Fifth conference participants, 1927. Institut International de Physique Solvay in Leopold ParkParc Léopold or Leopoldspark is a public park located within the Leopold Quarter of Brussels, adjacent to the Paul-Henri Spaak building, the seat of the European Parliament....
.
Solvay conferences on physics
| No |
Year |
Title |
Translation |
Chair |
| 1 |
1911 |
La théorie du rayonnement et les quanta |
The theory of radiation and quanta |
Hendrik LorentzHendrik Antoon Lorentz was a Dutch physicist who shared the 1902 Nobel Prize in Physics with Pieter Zeeman for the discovery and theoretical explanation of the Zeeman effect...
(Leiden) |
| 2 |
1913 |
La structure de la matière |
The structure of matter |
| 3 |
1921 |
Atomes et électrons |
Atoms and electrons |
| 4 |
1924 |
Conductibilité électrique des métaux et problèmes connexes |
Electric conductivity of metals and related problems |
| 5 |
1927 |
Electrons et photons |
Electrons and photons |
| 6 |
1930 |
Le magnétisme |
Magnetism |
Paul LangevinPaul Langevin was a prominent French physicist who developed Langevin dynamics and the Langevin equation. He was one of the founders of the Comité de vigilance des intellectuels antifascistes, an antifascist organization created in the wake of the 6 February 1934 far right riots...
(Paris) |
| 7 |
1933 |
Structure et propriétés des noyaux atomiques |
Structure & properties of the atomic nucleus |
| 8 |
1948 |
Les particules élémentaires |
Elementary particles |
William Lawrence Bragg Sir William Lawrence Bragg CH OBE MC FRS was an Australian-born British physicist and X-ray crystallographer, discoverer of the Bragg law of X-ray diffraction, which is basic for the determination of crystal structure. He was joint winner of the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1915. He was knighted...
(Cambridge) |
| 9 |
1951 |
L'état solide |
The solid state |
| 10 |
1954 |
Les électrons dans les métaux |
Electrons in metals |
| 11 |
1958 |
La structure et l'évolution de l'univers |
The structure and evolution of the universe |
| 12 |
1961 |
La théorie quantique des champs |
Quantum field theory |
| 13 |
1964 |
The Structure and Evolution of Galaxies |
J. Robert Oppenheimer (Princeton) |
| 14 |
1967 |
Fundamental Problems in Elementary Particle Physics |
R. Møller (Copenhagen) |
| 15 |
1970 |
Symmetry Properties of Nuclei |
Edoardo Amaldi Edoardo Amaldi was an Italian physicist.He was born in Carpaneto Piacentino, son of Ugo Amaldi, professor of mathematics at the University of Padua, and Luisa Basini....
(Rome) |
| 16 |
1973 |
Astrophysics and Gravitation |
| 17 |
1978 |
Order and Fluctuations in Equilibrium and Nonequilibrium Statistical Mechanics |
Léon van Hove Léon Van Hove was a Belgian physicist and a former Director General of CERN. He developed a scientific career spanning mathematics, solid state physics, elementary particle and nuclear physics to cosmology.-Biography:...
(CERN) |
| 18 |
1982 |
Higher Energy Physics |
| 19 |
1987 |
Surface Science Surface science is the study of physical and chemical phenomena that occur at the interface of two phases, including solid–liquid interfaces, solid–gas interfaces, solid–vacuum interfaces, and liquid-gas interfaces. It includes the fields of surface chemistry and surface physics. Some related...
|
F. W. de Wette (Austin) |
| 20 |
1991 |
Quantum Optics Quantum optics is a field of research in physics, dealing with the application of quantum mechanics to phenomena involving light and its interactions with matter.- History of quantum optics :...
|
Paul Mandel (Brussels) |
| 21 |
1998 |
Dynamical Systems and Irreversibility |
Ioannis Antoniou (Brussels) |
| 22 |
2001 |
The Physics of Communication |
| 23 |
2005 |
The Quantum Structure of Space and Time |
David GrossDavid Jonathan Gross is an American particle physicist and string theorist. Along with Frank Wilczek and David Politzer, he was awarded the 2004 Nobel Prize in Physics for their discovery of asymptotic freedom. He is currently the director and holder of the Frederick W...
(Santa Barbara) |
| 24 |
2008 |
Quantum Theory of Condensed Matter |
Bertrand Halperin Bertrand I. Halperin is the Hollis Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy at the physics department of Harvard University.He grew up in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. He attended Harvard University , and did his graduate work at Berkeley with John J. Hopfield .In the 1970s, he, together with...
(Harvard) |
| 25 |
2011 |
The theory of the quantum world |
David GrossDavid Jonathan Gross is an American particle physicist and string theorist. Along with Frank Wilczek and David Politzer, he was awarded the 2004 Nobel Prize in Physics for their discovery of asymptotic freedom. He is currently the director and holder of the Frederick W...
|
Solvay conferences on chemistry
| No |
Year |
Title |
Translation |
Chair |
| 1 |
1922 |
Cinq Questions d'Actualité |
Five topical questions |
William Pope William Pope may refer to:* William Henry Pope , Texas state senator* William Henry Pope * William Hayes Pope , U.S...
(Cambridge) |
| 2 |
1925 |
Structure et Activité Chimique |
Structure and Chemical Activity |
| 3 |
1928 |
Questions d'Actualité |
Topical Questions |
| 4 |
1931 |
Constitution et Configuration des Molécules Organiques |
Constitution and Configuration of Organic Molecules |
| 5 |
1934 |
L'Oxygène, ses réactions chimiques et biologiques |
Oxygen, and its chemical and biological reactions. |
| 6 |
1937 |
Les vitamines et les Hormones |
Vitamins and Hormones |
Frédéric Swarts Frédéric Swarts was a Belgian chemist who prepared the first chlorofluorocarbon, CF2Cl2 as well as several other related compounds. He was a professor in the civil engineering at the University of Ghent...
(Ghent) |
| 7 |
1947 |
Les Isotopes |
Isotopes |
Paul Karrer Paul Karrer was a Swiss organic chemist best known for his research on vitamins. He and Walter Haworth won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1937.-Early years:...
(Zurich) |
| 8 |
1950 |
Le Mécanisme de l'Oxydation |
The mechanism of oxidation |
| 9 |
1953 |
Les Protéines |
Proteins |
| 10 |
1956 |
Quelques Problèmes de Chimie Minérale |
Some Problems of Inorganic Chemistry |
| 11 |
1959 |
Les Nucléoprotéines |
Nucleoproteins |
Alfred Rene Ubbelohde (London) |
| 12 |
1962 |
Transfert d'Energie dans les Gaz |
Energy transfer in gases |
| 13 |
1965 |
Reactivity of the Photoexcited Organic Molecule |
| 14 |
1969 |
Phase TransitionA phase transition is the transformation of a thermodynamic system from one phase or state of matter to another.A phase of a thermodynamic system and the states of matter have uniform physical properties....
s |
| 15 |
1970 |
Electrostatic Interactions and Structure of Water |
| 16 |
1976 |
Molecular Movements and Chemical Reactivity as conditioned by Membranes, Enzymes and other Molecules |
| 17 |
1980 |
Aspects of Chemical Evolution |
| 18 |
1983 |
Design and Synthesis of Organic Molecules Based on Molecular Recognition |
Ephraim Katchalski (Rehovot) & Vladimir Prelog Vladimir Prelog FRS was a Croatian chemist and Nobel Prize winner in chemistry. Prelog lived and worked in Prague, Zagreb and Zürich during his lifetime.-Biography:...
(Zurich) |
| 19 |
1987 |
Surface Science |
F. W. de Wette (Austin) |
| 20 |
1995 |
Chemical Reactions and their Control on the Femtosecond Time Scale |
Pierre Gaspard (Brussels) |
| 21 |
2007 |
From Noncovalent Assemblies to Molecular Machines |
Jean-Pierre Sauvage (Strasbourg) |
| 22 |
2010 |
Quantum Effects in Chemistry and Biology |
Graham Fleming Graham R. Fleming is an American chemist, currently serving as professor, director of the Institute for Quantitative Biosciences, and the vice chancellor for research at the University of California, Berkeley.-Career:...
(Berkeley) |
External links