To the 95th anniversary of the discovery of the electron spin. Historical and philosophical aspect

Abstract

The report is dedicated to the 95th anniversary of the discovery of the electron spin by S. Goudsmit and J. Uhlenbeck. It is noted that the history of the discovery was accompanied by a clash of scientific and subjective points of view, the raising of priority issues and acute polemics of its participants, including Pauli and Kronig, Ehrenfest and Lorenz, Heisenberg and Bohr. But the undeniable arguments for accepting the electron spin were the interpretation of the experiment of Stern and Gerlach, the explanation of the doublets of the spectral lines of alkali metals and the Zeeman effect. In the context of the application of the heuristic function of philosophy to physical problems, the question of the possibility of earlier dates for the discovery of the electron spin and its interpretation is discussed.

Speaker

Boris Medvedev
Saratov State University
Russia

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