Born Symposium
December 11-12, 2007, Berlin
Max Born Institute and Max Planck Institute for the History of Science
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Symposium for the 125th anniversary of Max Born
Download Born Symposium Flyer (pdf, 164 kB)
Max Born ranks among the most outstanding physicists of the 20th century. His scientific work referred to almost all realms of theoretical physics and hit its first peak during the period before World War I. The Born-Karman quantum theory of specific heat and the book "The dynamics of crystal lattices" represent landmarks in the development of modern solid-state physics. In 1925/26 Max Born, Werner Heisenberg and Pascual Jordan initiated matrix mechanics and Born's statistical analysis of that theory provided the basis for the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics. Furthermore Born established the University of Göttingen as one of the most prominent schools of physics of the last century. In 1933 Born was forced to leave from Germany. He emigrated to Great Britain (Edinburgh) where he finally managed to continue his research activities successfully until his retirement. In 1954 he decided to return to Germany where for the next 20 years he continued to express his deep concern about the future of our society. In particular, he stood up for a democratic, humane world without atomic weapons. He was one of the signees of the Göttingen 18 declaration against the atomic armament of Federal Germany and a protagonist of the international Pugwash movement.
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