International cooperation in crisis

Chapter 11 deals with the slow process of restoring international scientific cooperation after the end of the World War, highlighting the Dutch role and Lorentz’s untiring efforts in the various, at first unsuccessful attempts to include German scientists in international scientific cooperative bodies. In particular, his important role as member and later chairman of the commission for international intellectual cooperation of the League of Nations (CICI) is discussed.

Early work and the Theory of Electrons

Chapter 4 contains an overview of Lorentz’s early work in terms accessible to a general audience. It sheds light on his unique place in science and the importance of his ideas, especially in the field of electromagnetic theory (his theory of electrons). A description of physics in the early nineteenth century, highlighting the role of Faraday and Maxwell, is followed by a discussion of Lorentz’s dissertation and his research program, the explanation of the Zeeman effect and the introduction of the electron, as well as the role of the ether. In this context the famous experiment by Michelson and Morley is also discussed, as well as the electromagnetic world view, Einstein’s special theory of relativity, and the question of which theory was to be preferred: Lorentz’s electron theory or Einstein’s special relativity theory?

Childhood and student years

Chapter 1 briefly describes Lorentz’s background, family history, and childhood in Arnhem, providing a short description of this provincial town’s history. It goes on to describe Lorentz’s primary and secondary school years and his first steps on the path to becoming a famous scientist. Attention is given to the teachers and authors that inspired him, his student years at Leiden University, his achievement of a doctoral degree in record time, his work as a secondary school teacher, and his private activities in experimental physics. Context is given by a short historical sketch of the position of the University and the city of Leiden.

The Zuiderzee Commission

Chapter 10 deals with Lorentz’s very important role as the chairman of the State Commission for the enclosure and reclamation of the Zuiderzee and the inordinate amount of time he spent on this. He almost single-handedly designed and executed the hydrological calculations needed for the successful construction of the enclosure dam of this large inland body of water. It includes a detailed description of the Commission’s work, the difficulties that needed to be overcome, as well as the theoretical framework, recommendations, and predictions.

Nobel Prize and international recognition

Chapter 6 discusses the growing national and international recognition of Lorentz and his Nobel Prize of 1902, together with Pieter Zeeman, for their work in magneto-optics (in particular the Zeeman effect). The preparations are described for the journey to Stockholm and the actual ceremony and other celebrations. Lorentz began to travel, at first mainly in Europe, but later also to the United States, and became an international figure in physics, attending a variety of scientific meetings and meeting an array of international colleagues: Henri Abraham, Marcel Brillouin, Pierre and Marie Curie, Paul Langevin, Jean Perrin, Lord Rayleigh, and J. J. Thomson. Lorentz received several job offers at foreign universities, for instance, succeeding Ludwig Boltzmann first in Leipzig and then in Munich. He declined the offers, but used them as bargaining chips in his negotiations with Leiden University to relieve him of his teaching duties to medical students. Lorentz’s lengthier visits to Rome, Göttingen, and Paris are described in some more detail.

Haarlem, Einstein, Ehrenfest, and Solvay

Chapter 7 describes how Lorentz agreed to head the Physisch Kabinet of Teylers Foundation in Haarlem, including some background on Teylers, Haarlem, and Lorentz’s activities there. The scholarly as well as personal relationship between Lorentz and Einstein is also discussed, as well as Lorentz’s role in the first Solvay Conseil de Physique and the Solvay Institute and the search for Lorentz’s successor in Leiden; in particular, the attempts to interest Albert Einstein. Once Einstein had refused, Lorentz approached the Austrian physicist Paul Ehrenfest, whose appointment is described in detail. In 1912, Lorentz moved to Haarlem, while he continued to lecture in Leiden and attend to his national and international contacts. Eherenfest’s succession was successful, but mood swings and a sense of inadequacy increasingly made it impossible for him to withstand the professional pressures, and eventually he committed suicide in 1933.

Quantum theory and the General Theory of Relativity

Chapter 8 describes, in terms that are accessible to a general audience, the development of quantum theory and general relativity in the first decades of the twentieth century and in particular Lorentz’s contributions to these theories. Among other topics, it discusses radiation theory, the work of Max Planck, the work of Einstein, and the work of Niels Bohr. These scientific developments eventually led to the end of classical physics. Special attention is paid to Lorentz’s acceptance of Einstein’s general relativity.

World War One

Chapter 9 contains a description of Lorentz’s role in the Dutch and international peace movement and his efforts to keep communication alive between the scientific communities of the two warring parties during World War One. It deals with the differences in the political opinions between scientists in Germany and in other parts of Europe, as well as various efforts, particularly on the part of Lorentz, to salvage international scientific cooperation.

Epilogue

The epilogue contains an analysis of Lorentz as a giant among international physicists, but also as a man of flesh and blood. It describes him as highly intelligent, a sensible and reasonable personality, frugal, friendly by nature, not easily ruffled, but with his human weaknesses. They pale, though, in comparison with his importance for international science. As Einstein described him he was: “A living work of art.”

Professorship and family life

Chapter 2 describes Lorentz’s appointment as university professor, his move from Arnhem to Leiden, the methodology and views on physics in his inaugural lecture on molecular theories in physics, and his use of mathematics for the development of his theoretical work on optics and molecular theory, among other topics. Lorentz’s induction and involvement in the Royal Academy of Sciences is discussed in this chapter. Other sections are devoted to Lorentz’s experimental work in physics together with Pieter Zeeman, and to his work with various friends and colleagues, like Kamerlingh Onnes and Van de Sande Bakhuyzen. Lorentz’s first foreign contacts are explored, in particular those with Woldemar Voigt, Ludwig Boltzmann, Felix Klein, and Walther Nernst. Lorentz’s teaching and his first public activities are discussed here, as well as his marriage and his family life.