Yoshio Nishina: Father of Modern Physics in Japan

by Kim; Dong-Won

• ISBN13: 9780750307550
• ISBN10: 0750307552
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2007-05-30
• Publisher: CRC Press

Summary

Yoshio Nishina not only made a great contribution to the emergence of a research network that produced two Nobel prize winners, but he also raised the overall level of physics in Japan. Focusing on his roles as researcher, teacher, and statesman of science, Yoshio Nishina: Father of Modern Physics in Japan analyzes Nishina's position in and his contributions to the Japanese physics community.After a concise biographical introduction, the book examines Nishina's family, his early studies, the creation of RIKEN, and the greater Japanese physics community in the early twentieth century. It then focuses on Nishina's work at the Cavendish Laboratory and at the University of Göttingen as well as his more fruitful research at Niels Bohr's Institute of Theoretical Physics in Copenhagen. The book also describes the establishment of the Nishina Laboratory at RIKEN, the collaboration between its experimentalists and theoreticians, and the cosmic ray research of its scientists. The last two chapters discuss Nishina's controversial construction and operation of two cyclotrons at RIKEN as well as his presidency at RIKEN after World War II.Navigating Nishina's entire life through various perspectives, this easy-to-read biography will help you become well acquainted with this fascinating physicist.

Table of Contents

Youth	p. 1
The Nishina Family	p. 1
Yoshio Nishina: The Student	p. 2
Institute of Physical and Chemical Research (Riken)	p. 6
Japan's Physics Community in the Early Twentieth Century	p. 10
Notes	p. 12
Nishina in Europe	p. 15
Heading for Europe	p. 15
Cambridge and Gottingen	p. 16
Research in Experimental Subjects at Copenhagen	p. 20
The New Quantum Mechanics and the Klein-Nishina Formula	p. 26
A Truly Accomplished Researcher	p. 39
Notes	p. 41
Preacher of the New Quantum Mechanics	p. 47
The Introduction of the New Quantum Mechanics to Japan During the 1920s	p. 47
Nishina: The Preacher of the New Quantum Mechanics	p. 55
Notes	p. 67
Beloved Sensei: Theoretical Research and the Emergence of a Research Network	p. 73
A New Kind of Boss at Riken	p. 73
The Theory Group	p. 75
The Emergence of a Research Network	p. 88
Notes	p. 97
Cosmic Ray Research: "This is Interesting. Let Us Try It."	p. 103
Cosmic Ray Research in the Early Twentieth Century	p. 103
The Effect of the 10th Subcommittee of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science on Cosmic Ray Research in Japan	p. 107
The Cosmic Ray Research Group	p. 110
Cosmic Ray Research and the Meson Theory: Cooperation between Experimentalists and Theoreticians	p. 123
Notes	p. 128
Father of Big Science: The Construction of Two Cyclotrons	p. 133
The Small (26-inch) Cyclotron	p. 133
The Large (60-inch) Cyclotron	p. 145
The Legacy of Two Cyclotrons	p. 155
Notes	p. 159
Statesman of Science	p. 165
Notes	p. 174
Appendix	p. 177
Index	p. 191
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