Arthur H. Compton, "A Quantum Theory of the Scattering of X-Rays by Light Elements", in Physical Review, 1927, vol 21 (second series) no.5. May 1923, pp 483-502. Offered in a very simple library quick-binding cloth-backed paper-covered boards (serviceable if not attractive) containing the issues for April – June, pp 391-722. Exlibrary, with a stamp on the cover and a stamp of several interior pages though not on the title page of the Compton (which was the lead article for May). So, a GOOD copy. $950
Compton shared the Nobel Prize in physics in 1927 “for his discovery of the effect named after him" and Charles Thomson Rees Wilson "for his method of making the paths of electrically charged particles visible by condensation of vapour."
"Arthur Holly Compton will always be remembered as one of the world's great physicists. His discovery of the Compton effect, so vital in the development of quantum physics, has ensured him a secure place among the great scientists" (DSB)
"Compton's achievement in 1923 was not merely in describing the effect, but also in explaining it in the context of quantum theory. Although Compton was well acquainted with quantum theory, it was only after he read a paper by Albert Einstein on the linear momentum of photons that he saw a way to demonstrate it using X-rays. A photon, according to quantum theory, was the basic unit (or quantum) of electromagnetic radiation. If an X-ray photon carried linear momentum as well as energy, Compton could treat the interaction in terms of momentum and its conservation, as an X-ray photon collides with an electron in the target substance. Assuming the conservation of energy (a fundamental principle of physics), Compton had to account for all of the energy after impact. He showed that the collision resulted in a new photon of less energy (and thus greater wavelength) being scattered after contact, while the target electron took on some of the energy as well. The total energy was conserved. The shift in wavelength depended on the mass of the electron and the angle of scattering. This work was crucial in establishing experimental evidence for conceiving of electromagnetic radiation (such as light and X-rays) as composed of quanta, with both energy and directed momentum." __+__"The Compton effect was important not only for its description of photon scattering, but also for its ramifications for understanding electrons. In the interaction just described, the electron was at rest. After a collision, however, the electron recoiled. Compton calculated the wavelength of the electron in motion after striking a photon, and the result became known as the Compton wavelength. Compton s results, which support the notion that radiation behaves as both wave and particle, precipitated a flurry of fundamental work in quantum physics in the 1920s. The quantum mechanics that emerged at the end of the decade can be viewed in part as the theoretical explanation of the experimental evidence found in Compton s laboratory. Even Werner Heisenberg;s uncertainty principle, asserting the impossibility of locating the electron with accuracy, can trace its origins to the problems of electron recoil described by Compton in 1923." "Compton s 1927 Nobel Prize, shared with C. T. R. Wilson (1869 1959), demonstrated the international recognition of his work and cemented his leading position in the U.S. community of physicists. He turned his research from X-rays to cosmic rays, for which he led expeditions throughout the world to measure their intensity. This work ended abruptly during World War II, when Compton entered the project to build the atomic bomb."--Science in the Early 20th Century, by Jacob Jamblin (an interesting encyclopedia I haven't used before."early" meaning 1900-1950). See also: Shankland, Robert S. Compton, Arthur Holly. In Gillispie, Charles Coulston, ed., Complete Dictionary of Scientific Biography, vol. III. New York: Charles Scribner s Sons, 1971, 366 372. __+__See also Stuewer, Roger. The Compton Effect: Turning Point in Physics
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