Cosmology between the Wars: The Nernst-Macmillan Alternative

As far as MacMillan is concerned, this similarity was first pointed out in Richard Schlegel, “Steady state theory at Chicago”, American journal of physics , xxvi (1958), 601–4.

MacMillan W. D. , “On stellar evolution”, The astrophysical journal , xlviii (1918), 35–49, p. 49. The “singular points” referred to stars. For MacMillan's career and his system as a precursor of steady-state cosmology, see Schlegel , op. cit. (ref. 1).

MacMillan W. D. , “Some mathematical aspects of cosmology”, Science , lxii (1925), 63–72, 96–99, 121–27, p. 99.

MacMillan W. D. , review of Veronnet A. , Constitution et évolution de l'univers (Paris, 1926), in The astrophysical journal , lxvi (1927), 139–43.

MacMillan W. D. , “The structure of the universe”, Science , lii (1920), 67–74, p. 73. See also the popular exposition in MacMillan W. D. , “The heavens and earth”, in The world mechanism , ed. by Brownell B. (New York, 1929), 11–37.

MacMillan W. D. , “Cosmic evolution”, Scientia , xxxiii (1923), 3–12, 103–12, p. 105.

Ibid. , 106.

MacMillan W. D. , “Velocities of the spiral nebulae”, Nature , cxxix (1932), 93. As another possibility, MacMillan suggested that the energy that “evaporated” from the photons would exist as a kind of low-frequency cosmic background radiation. Had MacMillan lived to 1965 — he died in 1948 — he might have welcomed the discovery of the cosmic microwave radiation as a confirmation of his old idea.

Millikan R. A. , “Remarks on the history of cosmic radiation”, Science , lxxi (1930), 640–41, p. 640.

Kohlhörster W. , Die durchdringenden Strahlung in der Atmosphäre (Hamburg, 1924), 66. For the early history of the cosmic radiation, see Brown L. M. Xu Q. , “The early history of cosmic ray research”, American journal of physics , lv (1987), 23–33.

Millikan R. A. , “High frequency rays of cosmic origin”, Science , lvii (1925), 445–48, 461.

Millikan R. A. Cameron G. H. , “High frequency rays of cosmic origin III. Measurements in snow-fed lakes at high altitudes”, Physical review , xxviii (1926), 851–68.

Millikan R. A. Cameron G. H. , “The origin of the cosmic rays”, Physical review , xxxii (1928), 533–57, p. 539.

Robert Kargon , “The evolution of matter: Nuclear physics, cosmic rays, and Robert Millikan's research program”, in Otto Hahn and the rise of nuclear physics , ed. by Shea William R. (Dordrecht, 1983), 69–89. See also Tobey Ronald C. , The American ideology of national science, 1919–1930 (Pittsburgh, 1971), 137–54. Millikan gave a popular version of his theory in an address before the Society of Chemical Engineers on 4 September 1928: Millikan W. R. , “Available energy”, Science , lxviii (1928), 279–84.

Millikan Cameron , op. cit. (ref. 13), 556.

Ibid. , 554. Millikan insisted on calling protons “positive electrons”. The real positive electron or positron, the antiparticle of the ordinary electron, was not discovered until 1932, but even then Millikan continued to use “positive electron” for the proton.

De Maria M. Russo A. , “Cosmic rays and cosmological speculations in the 1920s: The debate between Jeans and Millikan”, in Modern cosmology in retrospect , ed. by Bruno Bertotti (Cambridge, 1990), 401–9.

James Jeans , “The wider aspects of cosmogony”, Nature , cxxii (1928), 463–70, p. 470. See also James Jeans , “Recent developments of cosmical physics”, Nature , cxviii (1926), 29–40.

Millikan , op. cit. (ref. 9).

MacMillan W. D. , “The new cosmology”, Scientific American , cxxxiv (1926), 310–11.

Pokrowski G. I. , “Uber die Synthese von Elementen”, Zeitschrift fūr Physik , liv (1929), 123–32.

Stoner E. C. , “Cosmic rays and a cyclic universe”, Proceedings of the Leeds Philosophical and Literary Society , i (1929), 349–55.

Millikan R. A. , Electrons (+ and –), protons, photons, neutrons, and cosmic rays (Cambridge, 1935), 454–56.

Kargon R. H. , The rise of Robert Millikan: Portrait of a life in American science (Ithaca, 1982), 144–7.

Millikan Cameron , op. cit. (ref. 13), 556.

Millikan R. A. , “Present status of theory and experiment as to atomic disintegration and atomic synthesis”, Nature , cxxvii (1931), 167–70, p. 170.

There is no doubt that the Americans knew about Nernst's writings, and vice versa. From his review of Veronnet's book ( op. cit. , ref. 4), it is evident that MacMillan had read Nernst's booklet of 1921 in which the German chemist first accounted for his cosmological views (ref. 33, below).

Erwin Hiebert's expression in his biography of Nernst in Dictionary of scientific biography , x (1974), 432–53, p. 449. Nernst's work in cosmology and astrophysics is not well known. For example, in his biography of Nernst, Kurt Mendelssohn refers only briefly and inadequately to this work and the arguments for a kind of steady-state universe ( Mendelssohn K. , The world of Walther Nernst: The rise and fall of German science (New York, 1973), 115–16). Neither do modern histories of cosmology pay any attention to Nernst's work.

A typical example of this cosmo-chemical tradition is Norman Lockyer, Inorganic evolution as studied by spectrum analysis (London, 1900). For some of Crookes's work, see ref. 61, below.

Arrhenius S. , Världernas utveckling (6th edn, Stockholm, 1909), 184. This book, first published in 1907, became very popular and was by 1909 translated into German, English, French, Russian, Finnish, and Hungarian. For Arrhenius's views and their popular impact, see Amelin O. , “Physics as ideology: Svante Arrhenius as a writer of popular science”, in Center on the periphery: Historical aspects of 20th-century Swedish physics , ed. by Svante Lindqvist (Canton, Mass., 1993), 42–57.

For a representative example, see Berny A. , “Über kosmische Entwicklung”, Das Weltall , xiii (1913), 317–25.

Nernst W. , “Zur neueren Entwicklung der Thermodynamik”, Naturwissenschaftlicher Rundschau , xxvii (1912), 569–72, 585–8. This was the talk that Nernst gave to a meeting of German Scientists and Doctors (Gesellschaft deutscher Naturforscher und Ärzte) in Mūnster in 1912.

Nernst W. , Das Weltgebäude im Lichte der neueren Forschung (Berlin, 1921), 1. Translated into Russian in 1923.

Nernst W. , “Physikalische Betrachtungen zur Entwicklungstheorie der Sterne”, Zeitschrift fūr Physik , xcvii (1935), 511–34, p. 528.

Kragh H. , “Entropy as a working tool in early theoretical and physical chemistry”, unpublished paper presented at Entropy Conference, Dibner Institute for the History of Science and Technology, 15–16 April 1994.

Nernst , op. cit. (ref. 32), 587.

Nernst W. , “Über einen Versuch, von quantentheoretischen Betrachtungen zur Annahme stetiger Energieänderungen zurūckzukehren”, Verhandlungen der deutschen physikalischen Gesellschaft , xviii (1916), 83–116.

Nernst , op. cit. (ref. 33), 37. See also Gūnther P. , “Die kosmologischen Betrachtungen von Nernst”, Zeitschrift fūr angewandte Chemie , xxxvii (1924), 454–7.

Wiechert E. , “Der Äther im Weltbild der Physik”, Nachrichten von der königlichen Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften zu Göttingen , Math.-Phys. Klasse, 1921, no. 1, 29–70. Nernst acknowledged the affinity between his and Wiechert's ideas.

Nernst W. , “Zum Gūltigkeitsbereich der Naturgesetze”, Die Naturwissenschaften , x (1922), 489–95, being Nernst's inaugural lecture of 15 October 1921 as President of the University of Berlin. For Nernst's address as an example of the Weimar Zeitgeist, see Paul Forman , “Weimar culture, causality, and quantum theory, 1918–1927: Adaption by German physicists and mathematicians to a hostile intellectual environment”, Historical studies in the physical sciences , iii (1971), 1–116, pp. 84–87.

Nernst W. , “Physico-chemical considerations in astrophysics”, Journal of the Franklin Institute , ccvi (1928), 135–42. Nernst first suggested the principle in his work of 1921 (op. cit., ref. 33).

In his polemical review of Veronnet's book ( op. cit. , ref. 4).

See Joan Bromberg , “The concept of particle creation before and after quantum mechanics”, Historical studies in the physical sciences , vii (1976), 161–83.

Nernst , op. cit. (ref. 34), 520. Enrico Fermi, Otto Hahn and Lise Meitner believed about 1934 that they had detected elements with atomic number between 92 and 96 in experiments with neutrons bombarding uranium. The reports turned out to be wrong.

The cosmic significance of transuranic elements was discussed also by later cosmologists. For example, in George Gamow's original version of Big Bang cosmology, the initial state was hypothesized to consist of super-heavy, radioactive elements ( Gamow G. , “Concerning the origin of chemical elements”, Journal of the Washington Academy of Science , xxxii (1942), 353–5); and in 1956 George Burbidge and others suggested that californium-254 is responsible for the late phase of supernovae explosions ( Burbidge G. R. Hoyle F. Burbidge E. M. Christy R. F. Fowler W. A. , “Californium-254 and supernovae”, Physical review , ciii (1956), 1145–49).

Nernst , op. cit. (ref. 41), 141.

Jean Becquerel , “Sur la nature des charges d'électricité positive et sur l'existence des électrons positifs”, Comptes rendus , cxlvi (1908), 1308–11, p. 1308.

Nernst W. , Theoretische Chemie (5th edn, Stuttgart, 1907), 392. Nernst may have taken the conjecture, including the name ‘neutron’, from Sutherland W. , “Cathode, Lenard and Röntgen rays”, Philosophical magazine , xlvii (1899), 269–84. Nernst's idea of a corpuscular ether consisting of neutrons lost its appeal in the 1920s with the demise of the ether and with Rutherford's introduction of hypothetical, massive neutrons as proton-electron composites. Such neutrons were frequently discussed about 1930, in a few cases within an ether framework (e.g., Posejpal V. , “Détermination directe du volume de l'électron”, Comptes rendus , cxci (1930), 1000–2). For earlier attempts to elevate the ether to a physically — and chemically — active medium, see Kragh H. , “The aether in late nineteenth century chemistry”, Ambix , xxxvi (1989), 49–65.

Nernst W. , “Weitere Prūfung der Annahme eines stationären Zustandes im Weltall”, Zeitschrift fūr Physik , cvi (1937), 633–61, p. 660.

Hubble E. , “Effect of red shifts on the distribution of nebulae”, The astrophysical journal , lxxxiv (1936), 517–54, where Hubble concluded that the redshift might as well be interpreted within a static Einstein universe (due to, e.g., a tired-light hypothesis) as a Doppler effect due to the expansion of the universe. See also Hetherington Norriss S. , “Philosophical values and observations in Edwin Hubble's choice of a model of the universe”, Historical studies in the physical sciences , xiii (1982), 41–67. For a precise contemporary survey of the problem, see Ten Bruggencate P. , “Dehnt sich das Weltall aus?”, Die Naturwissenschaften , xxv (1937), 561–6. 51. Nernst W. , “Die Strahlungstemperatur des Universums”, Annalen der Physik , xxxii (1938), 44–48. Ernst Regener believed, like Nernst, that the cosmic radiation came from the entire universe. In 1933 he found from ionization measurements the cosmic energy flux to be 3.53 × 10⁻³ erg/sec/cm², or about the same as the optical energy flux from the stars received on Earth. From this he calculated by means of the Stefan-Boltzmann law that the temperature of the cosmic radiation in intergalactic space — i.e., the temperature increase of a black body absorbing it completely — would be 2.8 K. Regener's value is surprisingly close to the temperature of the cosmic microwave radiation discovered in 1965, about the only (but important) difference being that Regener did not assume that the cosmic radiation was blackbody distributed. See Regener E. , “Der Energiestrom der Ultrastrahlung”, Zeitschrift fūr Physik , lxxx (1933), 666–9. The first calculation of the temperature of space, based on the energy of starlight only, was performed by Eddington in 1926, who found the result 3.18 K. See Eddington A. S. , The internal constitution of the stars (Cambridge, 1926), 371. Neither Eddington, Regener, Nernst nor other contemporary researchers proposed methods to measure the background radiation temperature.

Nernst W. , “Einige weitere Anwendungen der Physik auf die Sternentwicklung”, Sitzungsberichte der preußische Akademie der Wissenschaften , xxviii (1935), 473–79.

E.g., Zwicky F. , “On the redshift of spectral lines through interstellar space”, Physical review , xxxiii (1929), 1077; Stewart J. Q. , “Nebular red shift and universal constants”, ibid. , xxxviii (1931), 2071; and MacMillan , op. cit. (ref. 8).

Nernst W. , “Zur Energiebilanz des Weltalls”, abstracted in Vierteljahrsschrift der astronomischen Gesellschaft , lxxii (1937), 311. At this meeting, Nernst also argued against cosmical expansion by means of his tired-light hypothesis.

Laue M. V. , “Notiz zur Quantentheorie des Atomkerns”, Zeitschrift fūr Physik , lii (1929), 726–34, p. 733. The suggestion was taken up by the Hungarian physicist Johann Kudar, who worked in Berlin: Kudar J. , “Wellenmechanische Begrūndung der Nernstschen Hypothese von der Wiederentstehung radioaktiver Elemente”, ibid. , liii (1929), 166–7.

Atkinson R. d'E. Houtermans F. G. , “Zur Frage der Aufbaumöglichkeiten in Sternen”, ibid. , liv (1929), 656–65.

Eddington A. S. , “Sub-atomic energy”, Memoirs and proceedings of the Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society , lxxii-lxxiii (1927–29), 101–17, p. 111. See also Eddington , op. cit . (ref. 51), 3, where Eddington addressed “a criticism urged by Nernst , Jeans and others” concerning his calculations of stellar energy output.

Eddington , “Sub-atomic energy” (ref. 57), 117.

James Jeans , The mysterious universe (Cambridge, 1930), 74–76.

According to Von Weizsäcker C. F. , The relevance of science: Creation and cosmogony (New York, 1964), 151–2.

Crookes W. , Presidential Address given to Section B, Report of the British Association for the Advancement of Science (London, 1887), 572. For early ideas of inorganic evolution, see Farrar W. V. , “Nineteenth-century speculations on the complexity of the chemical elements”, The British journal for the history of science , ii (1965), 297–323, and Brock W. , From protyle to proton: William Prout and the nature of matter 1785–1985 (Bristol, 1985).

Lodge O. , “Restoration of energy”, Nature , cvi (1920), 341; “Gravitation and light-pressure in spiral nebulae”, ibid , cxi (1923), 702; “Stationary clouds in interstellar space”, ibid. , cxiii (1924), 307. As mentioned, radiation pressure also played an important role in the cosmological views of Arrhenius.

Lodge O. , Evolution and creation (London, 1926), 88. For Lodge's world view and cosmological speculations, see Rowlands P. , Oliver Lodge and the Liverpool Physical Society (Liverpool, 1990), 270–98.

Lodge , op. cit. (ref. 63), 96.

James Jeans , Astronomy and cosmogony (2nd edn, Cambridge, 1929), 360. This sentence was approvingly quoted by Hoyle in his first paper on steady-state cosmology ( Fred Hoyle , “A new model for the expanding universe”, Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society , cviii (1948), 372–82, p. 372). Edward Milne also speculated on matter creation in connection with galaxies: “The centre of each nebulae, before the nebulae separated from one another by the expansion of the universe, has indeed been a singular point, where matter was created at some supra-sensual event, which is the origin of time for our t-scale.” Milne E. A. , Kinematic relativity (Oxford, 1948), 167.

Pearson K. , “On a certain atomic hypothesis”, Proceedings of the London Mathematical Society , xx (1888–89), 38–63; idem, The grammar of science (2nd edn, London, 1900), 265–7. Jeans J. , “A suggested explanation of radio-activity”, Nature , lxx (1904), 101.

Jeans , op. cit. (ref. 65), 421.

Tolman R. C. , “On the astronomical implications of the de Sitter line element for the universe”, The astrophysical journal , lxix (1929), 245–74, p. 266. See also North John D. , The measure of the universe: A history of modern cosmology (New York, 1990), 198–201.

Mimura Y. , “Relativistic quantum mechanics and wave geometry”, Journal of science of Hiroshima University , v (1935), 99–106, followed by numerous other papers in the same journal by Mimura , Sibata T. Takeno H. Itimaru K. .

North , op. cit. (ref. 68), 201–8; Kragh H. , “Cosmo-physics in the thirties: Towards a historiography of Dirac cosmology”, Historical studies in the physical sciences , xiii (1982), 69–108, and Dirac: A scientific biography (Cambridge, 1990), 223–46.

Schrödinger E. , “Sur la théorie du monde d'Eddington”, Nuovo cimento , xv (1937), 246–54.

Schrödinger E. , “The proper vibrations of the expanding universe”, Physica , vi (1939), 899–912, p. 901.

Rūger A. , “Atomism from cosmology: Erwin Schrödinger's work on wave mechanics and space-time structure”, Historical studies in the physical sciences , xviii (1988), 377–401. See also Audretsch J. , “Wellenmechanik und Raumzeit-Struktur: Erwin Schrödinger und die allgemeine Relativitätstheorie”, Physikalische Blätter , xliii (1987), 333–37.

Schrödinger E. , “Maxwell's and Dirac's equations in the expanding universe”, Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy , xlvi A (1940), 25–47.

Urbantke H. , “Schrödinger and cosmology”, in Studies in the history of general relativity , ed. by Eisenstaedt J. Kox A. J. (Einstein studies, iii; Boston, 1992), 453–9. In Schrödinger's book Expanding universe (Cambridge, 1956) he discussed wave mechanics in expanding universes, but without mentioning the concept of gravitational matter creation, which at that time would have been most relevant in connection with the steady-state theory.

McCrea W. , “Relativity theory and the creation of matter”, Proceedings of the Royal Society, A, ccvi (1951), 562–75.

McCrea W. , “Cosmology — a brief review”, Quarterly journal of the Royal Astronomical Society , iv (1963), 185–202, p. 195.

However, the heat death problem was not entirely absent in the later steady-state cosmology. In 1948, Hoyle emphasized that the creation of matter would counteract the increase in entropy and thus avoid the heat death scenario. Much later he argued that the steady-state theory was preferable because it provides an unlimited timespan for biological evolution, a theme also found in the prewar stationary cosmologies. See, e.g., Hoyle F. , “An assessment of the evidence against steady-state theory”, in Bertotti (eds), Modern cosmology (ref. 17), 221–32, p. 231.