History of Physics (Program 3)

The main focus of the History of Physics group, led by Prof. Anne Kox, lies on the history of modern physics, in particular in the Netherlands. Concrete projects are the publication of a two-volume edition of the scientific correspondence of H.A. Lorentz (the first volume appeared in 2008) and the writing of Lorentz’s biography. In addition, two PhD students are working on, respectively, the history of the role of the Zeeman effect in the validation of atomic models, and on the relations between university researchers and industry. (The latter project is also part of the research effort of the History Department.)

In addition to his position in Amsterdam, Anne Kox is Visiting Associate in History and Visiting Senior Editor at the Einstein Papers Project, which is part of the California Institute of Technology. He participates in the publication of the Collected Papers of Albert Einstein, the multi-volume edition of Einstein’s scientific and non-scientific papers and his correspondence.

Key publications 2009:

Kox A.J. ed., The Scientific Correspondence of H.A. Lorentz. Vol. 1. New York: Springer, 2008.

A.J. Kox, Tilman Sauer, Diana Kormos Buchwald, Rudy Hirschmann, Osik Moses, Benjamin Aronin, and Jennifer Stolper, eds. The Collected Papers of Albert Einstein.Vol. 11. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2009.

Pim Huijnen and A.J. Kox, Paul Ehrenfest’s Rough Road to Leiden: A Physicist’s Search for a Position, 1904–1912. Physics in Perspective 9 (2007): 186–211.