Oxford, At the Clarendon Press, 1930
Antimatter and the departure from classical physics. The first edition of this authoritative textbook on the principles of quantum mechanics by the British theoretical physicist Paul Dirac (1902-1984). A landmark in the history of science, which 'deeply influenced a generation of physicists' (ODNB).
Dirac jointly-won the Noble Prize in Physics in 1932 for his relativistic wave equation, which correctly described the motion of electrons whilst accounting for special relativity in the context of quantum mechanics. The equation implied the existence of electrons with a positive charge, a daring speculation which was unexpectedly confirmed in 1932 when positrons were discovered in cosmic radiation.
'The new theories, if one looks apart from their mathematical setting, are built up from physical concepts which cannot be explained in terms of things previously known to the student, which cannot even be explained adequately in words at all. Like the fundamental concepts... the new concepts of physics can be mastered only by long familiarity with their properties and uses' (Preface).
First edition; 8vo (24.5 x 16.5 cm); contemporary dated ownership inscription in pen to front free endpaper recto; publisher's black cloth, spine lettered in gilt, slightly faded, a very good copy; x, 257, [1]pp.
Dirac jointly-won the Noble Prize in Physics in 1932 for his relativistic wave equation, which correctly described the motion of electrons whilst accounting for special relativity in the context of quantum mechanics. The equation implied the existence of electrons with a positive charge, a daring speculation which was unexpectedly confirmed in 1932 when positrons were discovered in cosmic radiation.
'The new theories, if one looks apart from their mathematical setting, are built up from physical concepts which cannot be explained in terms of things previously known to the student, which cannot even be explained adequately in words at all. Like the fundamental concepts... the new concepts of physics can be mastered only by long familiarity with their properties and uses' (Preface).
First edition; 8vo (24.5 x 16.5 cm); contemporary dated ownership inscription in pen to front free endpaper recto; publisher's black cloth, spine lettered in gilt, slightly faded, a very good copy; x, 257, [1]pp.
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