Physics As a Calling, Science for Society

Ad Maas, Henriëtte Schatz

This book is a token of appreciation for A.J. Kox on his retirement as Pieter Zeeman Professor of History of Science at the University of Amsterdam. The papers, written by close colleagues from the Netherlands and abroad, reflect Kox's own fields of interest: physics and Dutch science in the period 1850-1950. The book focuses especially on the two towering figures of theoretical physics to whom Kox has devoted a large part of his professional life: Hendrik Lorentz and Albert Einstein. A central theme in many of the contributions is the tension that existed in this period between fundamental science and social concerns.