Niels Bohr: His Heritage and Legacy

The bulk of the present book has not been published previously though Chapters II and IV are based in part on two earlier papers of mine: "e;The Influence of Harald H!1lffding's Philosophy on Niels Bohr's Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics"e;, which appeared in Danish Yearbook of Philosophy, 1979, and "e;The Bohr-H!1lffding Relationship Reconsidered"e;, published in Studies in History and Philosophy of Science, 1988. These two papers comple- ment each other, and in order to give the whole issue a more extended treatment I have sought, in the present volume by drawing on relevant historical material, to substantiate the claim that H!1lffding was Bohr's mentor. Besides containing a detailed account of Bohr's philosophy, the book, at the same time, serves the purpose of making H!1lffding' s ideas and historical significance better known to a non-Danish readership. During my work on this book I have consulted the Royal Danish Library; the National Archive of Denmark and the Niels Bohr Archive, Copenhagen, in search of relevant material. I am grateful for permission to use and quote material from these sources. Likewise, I am indebted to colleagues and friends for commenting upon the manuscript: I am especially grateful to Professor Henry Folse for our many discussions during my visit to New Orleans in November-December 1988 and again here in Elsinore in July 1990.

The bulk of the present book has not been published previously though Chapters II and IV are based in part on two earlier papers of mine: "e;The Influence of Harald H!1lffding's Philosophy on Niels Bohr's Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics"e;, which appeared in Danish Yearbook of Philosophy, 1979, and "e;The Bohr-H!1lffding Relationship Reconsidered"e;, published in Studies in History and Philosophy of Science, 1988. These two papers comple- ment each other, and in order to give the whole issue a more extended treatment I have sought, in the present volume by drawing on relevant historical material, to substantiate the claim that H!1lffding was Bohr's mentor. Besides containing a detailed account of Bohr's philosophy, the book, at the same time, serves the purpose of making H!1lffding' s ideas and historical significance better known to a non-Danish readership. During my work on this book I have consulted the Royal Danish Library; the National Archive of Denmark and the Niels Bohr Archive, Copenhagen, in search of relevant material. I am grateful for permission to use and quote material from these sources. Likewise, I am indebted to colleagues and friends for commenting upon the manuscript: I am especially grateful to Professor Henry Folse for our many discussions during my visit to New Orleans in November-December 1988 and again here in Elsinore in July 1990.