sign in sign up
<<
Home , Ernest Solvay, Louis de Broglie, Solvay Conference, Walther Nernst

At the Metropole,´ a “Witches’ Sabbath”

Autumn 1911, Brussels. A mythic congress, a phe- nomenal cast: , , Henri Poincare,´ , , and others reinvent science during the Solvay Congress, in the most beautiful hotel in the city.

“Well, here it is!” Patrick Wielmans Was it really in this small room AN “ACT OF DESPAIR” opens the door of the Salon Einstein. that everything happened? In reality, On the first floor of the M´etropole, to Patrick Wielmans is not completely In reality the story started eleven the right of the monumental staircase certain. He inherited the informa- years earlier. In 1900, Max Planck traversing the imposing building on tion from his father, who himself in- formulated a theory based on a rev- the place de Brouck`ere, in the historic herited it from his grandparents, the olutionary idea: radiation and mat- centre of Brussels, the meeting room founders of the Metropole,` who were ter can only change their in is not very impressive. About forty also the hosts of the famous congress. the form of little indivisible packets. square metres, a bit of marble on the “Let us say that we are perhaps 90% cer- The idea of “quanta of ” was wall, a long table in the middle. Com- tain”, he suggests. Opposite, in the born. The German had not pared to the splendour of the grand same corridor, the Salon Langevin is found any alternative to describe cer- hˆotel, nothing very spectacular. Nev- also a possible candidate. tain experiments. But his theory, a ertheless, this place is the pride of complete break with the classical ap- both the establishment and its chief. proach, seemed to him so unreason- In was in this room, recalls Patrick The single image of the Solvay able, that he described it himself as Wielmans, that one of the most fa- Congress, which will be the first in an“Act of Despair.” mous pages in the history of science a long series, is a celebrated group Initially, it aroused little attention. was written. During the four days photograph. It does not let us de- But five years later, a young engi- between 30 October and 3 Novem- cide with certainty between the two neer in the Bern patent office, a cer- ber 1911, at the invitation of the in- salons: However it is not the place tain Albert Einstein, took up and fur- dustrialist and philanthropist Ernest which one wishes to immortalise, but ther radicalised Planck’s idea: it was Solvay, a score of the most brilliant the phenomenal casting of the event. not only the energy exchanges which spirits of the twentieth century filled Twenty four scholars, whose names were granular, but the very nature of these walls with esoteric reflections form, a century later, a major part radiation. itself should be com- on the profound nature of matter and of scientific textbooks: Albert Ein- posed of small granules of energy, the energy, opening the way to mod- stein, Marie Curie, Paul Langevin, famous quanta, which would not be ern —that which has given Henri Poincare,´ Max Planck, Hendrik called “” until much later. . . . electronics, informatics, the internet, Lorentz, , Mar- A third person, much less famous atomic fission and so on, which, for cel Brioullin1, , Jean than Einstein or Planck, then played better or for worse, have moulded Perrin, James Jeans. . . . Almost half of a key role in the genesis of the Solvay our epoch, and will mould future the participants have, or will have, a Congress. In 1906, a German physi- epochs. This meeting, which has . Marie Curie will have cist and , , for achieved a mythic status, the first two of them. his part had established a “heat theo- Solvay Congress, was not only where rem”, which he was trying to validate a new physics was launched. Accord- by means of an ambitious series of ex- ing to the physicist and philosopher What are the greatest scholars of periments. Very rapidly, Nernst re- Etienne Klein (CEA), “It profoundly their time doing in a luxury hotel in alised that his work achieved its full changed the way in which science was Brussels? Who called them together, significance only within the frame- done”. and why? work of quanta.

1The father of Leon´ Brillouin, inventor of Brillouin zones

1 “Walther Nernst was very ambi- accepted, and thus consolidate his cal industry. tious”, recounts Franklin Lambert own works? “Nernst understood well Solvay was above all in spirit him- (Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Instituts that this would be too obvious” says self a scholar, the author of some Solvay), physicist, historian of sci- Franklin Lambert. “He knew he had to remarkable intuitions, such as the ence, and passionate exegist of this find another solution.” idea of the equivalence between mat- key moment in physics. “He wanted Nernst’s “solution” was called ter and energy, which he would for- the Nobel Prize. But he knew that, for . This man, a wealthy mulate in 1887, eighteen years be- this, theory, at that stage very chemical-industrialist, a social and fore a certain Albert Einstein would controversial, had to be validated at the humane philanthropist, was one of establish it, incarnating it in the highest level.” For his own genius to the great patrons of his times. A bril- most celebrated formula of physics be recognised, it was necessary that liant self-taught man, he had discov- (E = mc2). Loving knowledge, and the ideas of Planck and Einstein be ered a method for the synthesis of strongly wishing to advance learn- recognised beforehand. soda, and in 1863 founded the soci- ing, he founded an institute for phys- Organise a conference at his place, ety which carries his name. It is still, iology at the Universit´elibre de Brux- in his institute in Berlin, to make a century and a half later, one of the elles in 1894, then a school of com- the theory of another German be finest jewels of the European chemi- merce, an institute for sociology.. . .

2 The first met in November 1911 in the Hotel M´etropole in Brussels. 24 scholars. Seated, from left to right: Walther Nernst, Marcel Brioullin, Ernest Solvay, , Emil Warburg, Jean-Baptiste Perrin, , Marie Curie, Henri Poincare.´ Standing: Robert Goldschmidt, Max Planck, Heinrich Rubens, Arnold Sommerfeld, Frederick Lindemann, Maurice de Broglie, Martin Knudsen, Friedrich Hasenohrl,¨ Georges Hostelet, Edouard´ Herzen, James Jeans, Ernest Rutherford, , Albert Einstein, Paul Langevin.

NEUTRAL TERRITORY Nernst and added several French sci- mans, a major family of brewers, who entists who had not originally been at the turn of the century were invest- Walther Nernst went to see Ernest on the programme: On the insis- ing in restaurants and hotels, the es- Solvay with a proposal to help in tence of the patron, Marie Curie, tablishment was a jewel of Art Nou- the resolution of the crisis then be- Marcel Brioullin and above all Henri veau. In 1891 the Wielemans broth- ing experienced within physics. The Poincare´ were to participate. This ers had purchased the grand build- crisis was real: Classical theory no choice would be decisive. ing with an imposing white facade in longer permitted any explanation of the style of Haussman on 31 Place de certain phenomena, and there was no As to the location, this decision was automatic. Solvay was Bel- Brouckere,` in which was located the consensus in favour of quantum the- General Bank for Savings and Pen- ory. “Ernest Solvay himself understood gian, the meeting would take place in , neutral territory, the cross- sions. They entrusted the transfor- the reality of this crisis, and wanted to mation into a hˆotelde luxe to the archi- participate in its resolution”, explains roads of Europe, frontier between the germanic and latin cultures. Brussels, tect Ged´ eon´ Bordiaux, and the dec- Jean-Marie Solvay, his great-great- oration and interior design to Alban grandson, who to this day continues capital of developing international- ism, would be the the city of the con- Chambon. They gave them complete to organise these “summit meetings” freedom in their tasks. on physics and . ference. And if Brussels was the con- Solvay enthusiastically adopted ference city, then the Metropole´ was The result was a cathedral—but Nernst’s idea: Bring together the the obvious choice of venue. a cathedral illuminated by electric- great scholars, let them confront each “At that time there was simply no ity and heated by steam. Columns, others’ ideas, and come to agree- other luxury hotel in Brussels”, com- arcades, stained glass, mirrors and ment about the reality of the famous ments Patrick Wielemans. In 1911 the gilding throughout, domed ceilings, quanta. But he amended the list establishment was already an institu- huge chandeliers; bronze, stucco, of invited participants proposed by tion. Founded in 1894 by the Wiele- rare woods, wrought iron, br`eche 2 de 2In English Numidian breccia, a highly decorative North African stone

3 Numidie.... ference: “Yesterday evening I had a plored Planck’s persistence in reject- Chambon drew inspiration from Frenchman on my right and an English- ing the idea of light quanta, be- the French Renaissance for the man on my left, and I was speaking to cause this would lead to the reform vestibule, from the Italian for the them both, one after the other!” Som- of Maxwell’s and Lorentz’s theory grand ballroom, from Hindu art for merfeld’s astonishment in the face of of electromagnetism. He was also the reception area, from the English what is today commonplace shows disappointed with Poincare’s´ skepti- style for the office and its lengthy that here Solvay invented a new way cism. But he was mistaken—being a teak counter, behind which glitter, of doing science: international, con- great physicist does not prevent you even today, rows of heavy and beau- vivial and disengaged from political being a mediocre psychologist. On tiful silvered keys that the direction considerations. For to put together returning to Paris, what he had heard of the hotel has decided to preserve German, French and English scholars at the Metropole´ continued to con- in spite of the sad modern fashion of around the same table was not at that the great French researcher. And magnetic cards. . . . time an anodyne event. in 1912 Poincare´ published an article Each square metre of wall or ceil- supporting Planck’s theory. In fact, his prestige was such that his conver- ing, each capital on a column is a NO-ONE SAW THINGS CLEARLY witness to talent and to hours of sion would play a major role in the work of hundreds of artisans. “When There were other problems: at that acceptance of quantum theory by the you see the minutiae of the ornamen- time there was no language like the majority of the scholars. tation, the care taken with the small- English of today, which could serve The conference left numerous est element of decoration, you know that as a scientific lingua franca. But, questions open, but it tilted the bal- we will never again go so far in such by chance, Hendrik Lorentz, who ance in favour of a new physics. attention to detail. It is something presided over the meeting, was not “All historians of high- which we have lost,” judges the ar- only a great physicist; he was also light the decisive significance of the chitect and designer Herve´ Langlais, a talented polyglot. He translated first Solvay conference for the start of artistic director of the Galerie Negro- on the fly and facilitated exchanges, a collective awareness of the impor- pontes. This syncretism, this polifera- passing from German to French, from tance of quanta, and for the progress tion could be overbearing. It is noth- English to Dutch. . . . of the quantum theory”, write Pierre ing of the kind. All the way to the The conviviality of the first Solvay Marage and Gregoire´ Wallenborn entry to the elevator—fabricated by conference certainly played a signif- in La Naissance de la physique mod- the french company Edoux, who also icant role in its success. “Einstein erne racont´eeau fil des conseils Solvay made the —the visitor al- was only 32, and for him this congress (Ed. de l’Universite´ libre de Brux- ways has above him five, six, some- was a way of making his official entry elles, 2009)3. Quanta would be cen- times seven metres to the ceiling. into the scientific community” recounts tral to a new theory—bizarre and “When you dream that you might Franklin lambert. “He would tie bonds counterintuitive—quantum mechan- imagine new physical theories, this is of friendship, with Marie Curie for ex- ics, which would wait another two perhaps something that could help“, sug- ample, and would receive letters of rec- decades before emerging definitively. gests Patrick Wielemans. He couldn’t ommendation from several of the partic- After the the first Solvay confer- have said it better. “Initially the schol- ipants to get the position in that ence, a formal proceedings of more ars were to reside in the hotel, and he coveted.” than 400 pages would be published, hold their meetings in the lecture hall of These letters also show, notes the in French, and this has still not the Institute for Physiology in the Parc science historian, that the young and been translated in full into English. . . . L´eopold,but they preferred to stay where enthusiastic Einstein “fascinated the It says nothing about the way in they were”, observes Patrick Lambert. other participants in the conference by which the debates developed. What These people were not simply spir- the breadth of his knowledge and the questions were posed? By whom? its. On the second day of the con- depth of his analysis of problems.” “In At what moment? The answers ference, Arnold Sommerfeld wrote to reality, one can say that his career was to such questions have not really his wife that the place where they launched by the first Solvay conference,” been treated by historians of science. were lodged was “wonderfully chic”. adds Franklin Lambert. However, However, they do exist. ”Each of us has a private bath and toilet Einstein left the conference feeling During the conference the French in our room” he noted. “I have a bath disappointed, describing it, in a letter physicist Maurice de Broglie4 who each morning. We are the guests of M. to his friend and confidant Michele acted as secretary to the conference, Solvay, and this includes the meals. No Besso, as a “witches’ sabbath”. At the retrieved all of the little notes taken less than five courses at each dinner! It’s end of the meeting, he wrote to Besso: on the spot by scholars during their crazy!” “No-one saw things clearly. In all of this debates, organised them and pasted Another of the German physi- there would enough to delight a company them into a notebook together with cist’s reflections to his wife speaks of demonic Jesuits.” his own commentaries—a unique volumes about the novelty of the con- The young Swiss physicist de- testimony of what was said in the 3English version “The Solvay Councils and the Birth of Modern Physics”, Springer 1999 4The Brother of , inventor of -particle duality

4 Metropole´ during those days. . . . This erything up for auction. He should terms of what it really signified for the fu- register now resides at the Institute de really have asked the two scientists ture of physics”, recalls Marina Solvay, France. It has not revealed all its se- for their reactions, but, he wrote, great-great-granddaughter of Ernest crets, and the Solvay Institutes make “Madam Curie cannot be found, and Solvay, who is currently finalising a no secret of their desire to obtain a no-one knows where Monsieur Langevin book on the subject. “All that was seen copy for their archives. is”. While he had been polishing his was a woman surrounded by men”. scandalmongering, the two scholars On 23 November, from Prague, had been in Brussels, with their sci- MEDIA LYNCHING Einstein wrote a beautiful letter to entific peers, discussing quanta. the French scholar, which showed As to those of the Metropole,´ they In the “lynching” which followed that the first Solvay conference was have disappeared, probably de- in the coming weeks—in spite of also the crucible of solid friendships. stroyed during the Second World her second Nobel prize, announced He said he was “furious” about the War. Who slept in which room? We on 7 November—newspaper readers wrong being done to her. “I feel the will never know. It is hardly im- mainly remembered that Marie Curie need to tell you how much I have learned portant, however, it was the only and Paul Langevin were, together, in to admire your intelligence, your energy, question which, at that time, inter- a luxury hotel in Brussels. . . . and your integrity, and that I consider ested the press. And in particular, myself fortunate to have been able to meet the conservative press. Fernand Hauser would finish by you personally in Brussels” he added. Because, on 4 November 1911, making, publicly, a sincere apology “If this riffraff is still busying itself with on returning from Brussels, Marie to Marie Curie for having ignited you, simply stop reading this nonsense. Curie found, assembled in front of the inferno. Too late. L’Œuvre et Leave it to the vipers for whom it was her house at Sceaux, a small gather- L’ francaise fed the scandal and manufactured”. ing. A hostile crowd was shouting slammed the foreigner, the Pole (she insults at her. The nationalist daily le was born in Poland), the adultur- Scholarly friendships spanning Journal, with one of the largest circu- ous widow, and, playing on the an- the Rhine, a new physics: the Solvay lations, had just revealed on its front tisemitism of their readers, went all conference fulfilled its promises. And page her liaison with Paul Langevin. the way up to inventing Jewish ori- as for Walther Nernst, in 1920 he She had been a widow for five years, gins for her. This affair was not ex- would receive his coveted Nobel and he was separated from his wife, actly the high point of the profes- Prize for chemistry. Two years after but Fernand Hauser, the author of sion. “No newspaper spoke, at that the great Planck had received that for the article, did not care. He put ev- time, about the first Solvay conference in physics, as the father of quanta.

Originally published in French as Au M´etropole un <>, in le Monde, 31 July 2015. Article written by Stephane´ Foucart.

5