The influence of Niels Bohr on Max Delbrück: revisiting the hopes inspired by "light and life"

• Published in: Isis Vol. 96; no. 4; p. 507
• Main Author: McKaughan, Daniel J
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 01.12.2005
• Subjects: History, 20th Century; Humans; Life; Molecular Biology - history; Nuclear Physics - history; Quantum Theory - history

The impact of Niels Bohr's 1932 "Light and Life" lecture on Max Delbrück's lifelong search for a form of "complementarity" in biology is well documented and much discussed, but the precise nature of that influence remains subject to misunderstanding. The standard readin...