Russell McCormmach

This book was interesting but not really an easy page-turner. I read it slowly and consulted the Notes every few pages.
While, strictly speaking, Night Thoughts of a Classical Physicist is a short novel it is more a history of the changes that were happening in the field of physics. We are in the mind of Victor Jacob, a classical physicist who is nearing retirement from his Institute in 1918. Jacob is a composite character with the thoughts and events of his life and career taken from the lives of many German physicists of the time. He reflects on his own life, remembering how he served in the Army during an earlier war with France, his early studies and career, the new theories that are supplanting those with which he is most comfortable, the course of the war, and a little about what will happen to Germany and to physics after it's over.

Not for everyone but if you are interested give it a try.… (mais)

Though this takes the form of a short novel, it is essentially an historically-based account, though presented fictionally to make it more readable. The main character is an allegory of classical physics in Germany as they were in the early 20th century, during the war. They are old, and being superseded by the newer relativity and quantum physics, and for this reason feel somewhat useless, despite still being proud and unwilling to change, preferring the established simplicity and the aesthetics of the classical way of doing things. There is a very thick atmosphere in the book, not only involving the difficulties facing scientists in Germany, but culturally too, due to the war and the problems it creates, and the disturbances among the arts. The conflicts between classical physics and modern physics are represented by the characters' conflicts with other people in the university, which also seem to have parallels with the troubles Germany is facing, with its relations to other countries deteriorating and slowing the advance of science.
The tone of this book is melancholy and somewhat sentimental throughout, but is not in any way exaggerated or inaccurate, as every event corresponds to something that actually happened, these being referenced at the end. It is very well written and should appeal greatly to those with an interest in the history of science, and those who are interested in physics.… (mais)