Monaldi, Daniela: The First Steps (and Stumbles) of Bose-Einstein Condensation: Uhlenbeck's Criticism of Einstein's Prediction and its Refutation

Einstein’s prediction of Bose-Einstein condensation, published in 1925, did not bear any fruit until 1938, when Fritz London began applying it to explain the superfluidity of He-II. According to several sources, this delay was due to a criticism levelled at Einstein’s argument by George Uhlenbeck. which persuaded Paul Eherenfest as well as Einstein himself. Subsequent work by Uhlenbeck and Boris Kahn showed, however, that Uhlenbeck’s initial objection did not hold in the thermodynamic limit, thus opening the way to London’s work.