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Danish physicist (1885–1962) who was awarded the 1922 Nobel Prize in Physics for his theory of atomic structure. TLS in German, signed "Niels Bohr," one page, 8.75 x 11.25, Institut for Teoretisk Fysik letterhead, February 3, 1949. Letter to the publisher W. Keiper in Berlin. In part (translated): "I have your friendly letter asking if I was satisfied with the proposed dedication in your edition of Planck's recollections. It is hard for me to answer the question posed, because it seems to me that a dedication to certain organizations or persons hardly projects the paramount importance of Planck's life work to the science of our time. Anyway, I might like to know, on the one hand, if you have already received from the Nobel Foundation and other named persons the approval of the dedication and it would therefore be associated with difficulties…On the other hand, after the eight names among the many [Nobel] award-winners for Physics selected, you omit entirely others such as Compton, Dirac, Fermi, Franck, Pauli, Rabi, Stern, from whom so many significant contributions to the Planck quantum theory have come." In very good to fine condition, with two file holes to the left edge, and a stain in the closing area.
Written just four years after the end of World War II, this letter captures Niels Bohr’s active role in shaping both the scientific and moral legacy of modern physics during a period of reconstruction in Europe. Bohr, a central architect of quantum theory alongside Max Planck, was deeply invested in how the history of the field—and Planck’s foundational contributions—would be presented to future generations. His comments reflect not only his intellectual rigor but also his diplomatic sensitivity to the international scientific community, many of whom had been divided by the war. The letter offers a revealing glimpse into postwar efforts to reestablish collaboration and properly acknowledge the figures who advanced quantum mechanics.
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