HQ–4 Conference on the History of Quantum Physics

Beijing September 20 - September 25, 2010

Organizing institutions; CAS Institute for the History of Natural Sciences

Max Planck Institute for the History of Science

Call for Papers

Building upon the momentum generated by three previous conferences in Berlin (2007) , in Utrecht (2008), and in Berlin (2010). In 2011, this conference will take place in Beijing, and will bring together historians, philosophers, and scientists who work on the emergence, development and transmission of quantum physics and related disciplines from the days of the old quantum theory until the present. The conference aims at combining a genuinely historical perspective with a broader understanding of the foundations and implications of quantum physics. The thematic horizon extends from the classical traditions that quantum physics is rooted in, through the genesis of quantum mechanics and quantum field theory, to the history of its appropriation in newly-emerging fields of research up to the present day.

We invite contributions with a historical focus, dealing with aspects such as:

·　　　  the theoretical, mathematical and experimental practices of quantum physics, as well as their mutual relation

·　　　  transformation and transmission of quantum physics in the background of the institutional, socio-cultural and political processes

·　　　  the philosophical and foundational questions which were raised about quantum physics and the conflicting answers given to them.

Particularly welcome are proposals connecting several of these aspects.

Please submit an abstract of up to 500 words by April 31, 2011, to the organizing institutions:hq4-bj2011@ihns.ac.cn

Scientific committee:

Zaiqing Fang

Danian Hu

Christoph Lehner

Jürgen Renn

Xiaodong Yin

Baichun Zhang

The advisory committee for the History of Quantum Physics Conferences:

Don Howard, Notre Dame

Michel Janssen, Minneapolis

Christoph Lehner, Berlin

John Norton, Pittsburgh

Jürgen Renn, Berlin

Robert Rynasiewicz, Baltimore.

Yueliang WU, Beijing

Jürgen Renn, Max Planck Institute for the History of Science

Baichun Zhang, CAS Institute for the History of Natural Sciences

The address of the HQ4 conference’s secretary:

Miss Kangni ZHENG

Institute for the History of Natural Sciences

Chinese Academy of Sciences

55 Zhong-guan-cun East Road

Haidian District

Beijing 100190

P.R. China

Tel: +86-10-57552512

Fax: +86-10-57552567

hq4-bj2011@ihns.ac.cn