Einstein Vs Bohr: Birth of two Titans
By 1910, Albert Einstein and Niels Bohr were [1]“elite core set of the physicists” who were already noble laureates of the field. By 1920s, Einstein has published his [2]Special and General theory of relativity which burned down the idea of space and time being absolute. Einstein proposed a novel concept of space and time as being this flexible, interwoven fabric that is wrapped and distorted by matter; he proposed that gravity is essentially the curved geometry that matter creates by bending this flexible fabric. He also stated that the speed of light was absolute and hence it was concluded that time itself was relativistic; it passes differently for different people and objects based on their frame of reference.
Similarly, Bohr had revolutionized the field by proposing the idea of the [3]“quantum atom”. By observing the spectral lines of light that atoms emitted when they were excited, Bohr suggested a radical perspective of the atom; he professed the electrons occupied a certain energy orbital and they emitted energy in discreet amounts called quanta. In 1913, when Bohr first publicized his theory, it was met with fastidious criticism and rejection among the physics circles. Ironically, Einstein was initially one of the few physicists who supported Bohr’s theory as Einstein himself had described the photoelectric effect which explained how atoms, when excited, released photons. He will go on win noble prize for this explanation in 1921; however, for now this idea of quantum was still being rejected by physicist.
[1] Kaiser, D. (1994, June). Bringing the human actors back on stage: The personal context of the Einstein-Bohr Debate. Retrieved April 10, 2023, from https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/4027432.pdf
[2] Rindler, W. (2006). Relativity: Special, general, and cosmological. Oxford University Press.
[3] Kumar, M. (2014). The Quantum Atom. In Quantum: Einstein, Bohr and the great debate about the nature of reality. essay, Icon books.