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Atomic and molecular

Atomic and molecular

H stands for hydrogen and humility

30 Jun 2003

Hydrogen: The Essential Element
John S Rigden
2002 Harvard University Press 320pp £18.50/$28.00hb

Hydrogen, students are told, is the simplest of all atoms. Yet hydrogen has a complex history, full of pitfalls and surprises, and is a notoriously difficult element to handle in the lab. Of all the atoms, it was the one that guided us through many of the complexities of modern physics. It was simple and kept us modest. As John Rigden writes: “H stands for hydrogen…and humility”. It is a feeling that anyone who has ever contemplated an experiment with hydrogen will immediately recognize.

Here in Les Houches, where I am writing this review with a magnificent view of Mont Blanc, hydrogen seems irresistible. Like climbing the mountain itself, reading Hydrogen: The Essential Element will bring both beauty and pain. You will visit the camps of those who went before you, and you will have to climb far before you find an unexplored track. The climb, however, will leave you a richer person.

Rigden’s book is basically a history of 20th-century physics, in which he uses the hydrogen atom as guide and sherpa. Each chapter covers a key discovery in physics that involved hydrogen and contains a pleasant mix of narrative and background information. Ironically, quantum gases in low dimensions – the theme of the meeting in Les Houches that I am currently attending – is one of the many fields in which hydrogen has left its trace.

The chapters are arranged chronologically but can also be read independently – enabling impatient readers to jump straight to the end, where Rigden takes us to the current summit of our knowledge of physics. There is sufficient drama to bring the personalities alive and to convey the amazement about the developments as they occurred. As Rigden makes clear, many major scientific events proved to be mere foothills en route to higher summits, the real view from which was only later realized.

This approach highlights the human element of some of the fascinating developments in science, and reminds the reader that we should not merely glorify a selected few champions of our profession. The book will appeal to many readers – both to those who have worked on hydrogen and to non-scientists as well. It will be particularly useful for physicists who want to refresh their memory on a specific topic or who are looking for some historical perspective to mix into a lecture course.

The book begins with the work of William Prout, who discovered that the atomic masses of the elements are all integral multiples of that of hydrogen, and of Johann Jacob Balmer, who devised a formula for the spectral lines of the Sun. There then follows a compelling description of the development of quantum mechanics, which was kept in register by feedback from spectroscopy experiments – first at optical frequencies and then in the microwave and radio regimes. The development of quantum electrodynamics was the culmination of this effort.

The role of hydrogen in cosmology gets the proper attention that it deserves. Is it not a beautiful insight that only hydrogen, helium and lithium were synthesized in the Big Bang? As my astrophysics colleague Ed van de Heuvel puts it: “We are made of stardust” – plus a little bit of hydrogen, of course.

Being from a younger generation than Rigden, I paid particular attention to the last few chapters of the book. Discussing exotic hydrogen atoms – in particular antihydrogen and Bose-Einstein condensation – these chapters show that the impact of hydrogen is far from finished at the start of the 21st century. However, they also reveal the difficulty of writing a book like the present one. History is still too fresh to have it condense around the names of a few individuals who are glorified to almost god-like proportions.

Anyone who knows science will be aware of these distortions, which often leave the work of many unnamed individuals associated with only a few heroes. Although these chapters are worthwhile to read, in my view the author leaves an inaccurate impression through his selection of “model” scientists. He has missed some remarkable events and scientists who have made decisive contributions and commitments that were no less worthy than the ones selected.

For example, I find it incredible that the commitment and guiding experiments of Jerry Gabrielse from Harvard University towards the formation of thermal samples of antihydrogen are not singled out. Furthermore, why has the author failed to mention that atomic hydrogen and deuterium were the first quantum gases to be created in experiments initiated by Ike Silvera in Amsterdam? After all, this was a major milestone towards Bose-Einstein condensation in dilute quantum gases.

I am also not sure why Rigden has singled out the work of Lene Hau from Harvard on slowing light in Bose-Einstein condensates. This has little to do with Bose-Einstein condensation and can be investigated much better in other systems. On the other hand, the beautiful work of Wolfgang Ketterle, in which the coherence of Bose-Einstein condensed matter was first established, is not even mentioned. Such experiments can only be done with the quantum gases.

Another quibble is that Rigden appears to have little affinity with condensed-matter problems. Important and beautiful topics such as solid hydrogen, hydrogen in metals, hydrogen bonding and hydrogen-like excitons in semiconductors are not mentioned anywhere at all. The hydrogen bomb, however, is a story in itself, and I agree with the author that its inclusion would not have fitted into the format of the book.

In summary, Rigden serves up a high-quality history of 20th-century science. He writes in a compelling style and offers a variety of deep insights into the physics of our universe. I recommend this book for your personal bookshelf or as a gift for non-specialist readers who have a keen interest in the physical world around us.

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