One hundred years of the Bohr atom, 1913–2013 Call for conference contributions

One hundred years of the Bohr atom, 1913–2013 Call for conference contributions


The Niels Bohr Archive (NBA), Copenhagen, is seeking contributions to a history of science conference celebrating the centennial for Niels Bohr's model of the atom. The conference will be part of a series of celebrations in Denmark marking this event. It will take place in Copenhagen over several days in late spring 2013. We hope that the talks will take new approaches to and open up new areas in the study of Bohr and his times, not only with regard to his atomic model of 1913, but broadly defined as locating Bohr and his various contributions, activities and collaborations in wider contexts of the twentieth century.

The talks should be of high scholarly standard and be based on thorough research in archival resources such as the Archive for the History of Quantum Physics (available on microfilm in repositories all over the world) as well as archival material in various individual repositories, for example the NBA (described at http://archon.nbi.dk and holding several collections after Niels Bohr as well as some of his contemporaries, e.g., George Hevesy and Léon Rosenfeld). At the same time, they should preferably appeal to an audience beyond the professional history of science community.

The talks will provide the basis for an edited anthology of articles (in English). While the structure and content of the anthology can only be decided in view of the proposals received, the proposals will conversely be evaluated on the basis of how they add up to a balanced anthology.

Contributions from young scholars as well as established researchers are encouraged. While research expenses are the candidates' own responsibility, we do expect to obtain support for travel and accommodation in connection with the conference itself. Please send a statement of interest – together with your preferred dates for research at the NBA, if applicable – at your earliest convenience, and no later than 31 December 2010, to the Director of the NBA, Finn Aaserud, at the address aaserud@nbi.dk. We hope with this first announcement to get a first indication of the issues to be taken up at the conference, and will get back to you with our reactions as soon as we can in the new year.

Copenhagen, June 2010