Unsöld:
It was at the Liege meeting. As president of the meeting, I had to give some sort of coordinated introduction. And I did it in the form of giving a 50 years retrospect, because it's just now... 50 years, since the modern development of astrophysics into a quantitative science began, based on quantum theory, quantum mechanics and so on ... I made a photocopy of my introduction for you. I did not present it exactly in this form, but I think I will have it printed in this form in the Liege reports.
Gingerich:
All right. My suggestion for procedure would be that we do this in two sessions, with some sort of break in between that will make it more relaxing. There is a twofold purpose for my talking to you. One is that I would deposit the tapes with the American Institute of Physics at the Niels Bohr Library, where they have an archive of many of these tapes, and for that part particularly I would like to talk about your own rather personal view of doing astrophysics, and how you changed from physics into astrophysics; your education; the people you worked with; your teachers, and so on. In the second session, I would like to ask you your broader evaluation of what you think were the most important trends in astrophysics, in this part. So maybe I can read over the paper very quickly, in the recess between the sessions.
Unsöld:
As I said, you can also just take it along. I am sure that it will be printed in the Report of the Liege meeting.
Gingerich:
I am happy you have done it, because these are always very useful kinds of surveys.
Unsöld:
It was, even for me, a little bit surprising to see how in these rather few years between 1926 and 1928, almost all the very important concepts of modern astrophysics, spectroscopy, — I should say — were almost completed. And the reasons of course were simple because just in the preceeding few years, quantum theory of atomic physics made a tremendous jump, beginning with Heisenberg's invention of matrix mechanics.
Gingerich:
This was the same time when you were beginning to publish heavily.
Unsöld:
Yes. Well, you see, I started with theoretical physics, and had written my doctor's thesis or rather received my doctor's degree in February, 1927. This was probably — as far as I know at least — the first doctor's thesis based on the concepts of the Schrödinger mechanics.
https://www.aip.org/history-programs/niels-bohr-library/oral-histories/4924
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