Brieftagebuch zwischen Max Planck, Carl Runge, Bernhard Karsten und Adolf Leopold

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Klaus Hentschel; Renate Tobies (Hrsg.)
Brieftagebuch zwischen Max Planck, Carl Runge, Bernhard Karsten und Adolf Leopold
Mit den Promotions- und Habilitationsakten Max Plancks und Carl Runges im Anhang
(BBGNT – Berliner Beiträge zur Geschichte der Naturwissenschaften und der Technik, Band 24)
278 Seiten, 12 Abb., Pb., 27,80 Euro (2003, 17×24 cm)
ISBN 978-3-86225-047-9
_{(Dieser Titel ist vergriffen!)}
Ein über ein halbes Jahrhundert geführtes Brieftagebuch, das tiefe Einblicke in die Zeit um die Jahrhundertwende 1880–1927 ermöglicht.

Summary

Four college friends, members of the academic chorus club in Munich, were determined to keep in touch. What better way to share news about their different careers and interests than with a letter-journal passed along from one to another at regular intervals? Two of the authors, the mathematician Carl Runge and the physicist Max Planck, eventually rose to international fame; thus their exchange with the school teacher Bernhard Karsten and the jurist Adolf Leopold acquires general interest. The present document spanning almost fifty years (1880–1927) includes 37 letters by Planck and 79 by Runge that offer candid glimpses into their private and professional lives.

The news jotted down from friend to friend gives a colorful picture of their world extending well beyond the bounds of science: intimate sympathy and support for one another’s professional advancement and health; close interest in pastimes and family events. The journal records the personal side of historical events like the Great War and the November Revolution and reflects their attitudes about such diverse subjects as childrearing, anti-Semitism, women’s education, and other facets of the Zeitgeist. Confidences are shared about fellow scientists, artists, musicians, and writers as only among intimates.

This document, an excerpted selection by Runge’s daughter from the lost multi-volume original, is a valuable historical source that illuminates the existing scientific horizons and the motivations behind specific research endeavors. The 67-page introduction provides background information on the text, the diarists, Planck’s studies, Runge’s work in applied mathematics and spectroscopy, the mathematical education of physicists, and other general aspects. It also draws pertinent passages from letters between Runge and Planck from various other archives (cf. the source list on p. 257). The extensive annotation follows the 117-page journal transcription, with the university dossiers on Planck’s and Runge’s doctoral and habilitation proceedings in an appendix. Included in this second edition are the six theses Planck composed for the public defense of his dissertation in 1879 (p. 140).

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