Fritz London

the long version

Fritz London was one of the twentieth century's key figures in the development of theoretical physics and chemistry. A quiet and self-effacing man, he was one of the founders of quantum chemistry, and was also the first to suggest that superconductivity and superfluidity could be viewed as macroscopic quantum phenomena. This thoroughly researched biography gives a detailed account of London's life and work, and, by following his correspondence with other leading physicists and chemists (such as Erwin Schrodinger, Walter Heitler, Max Born, John Bardeen, Max von Laue and Brian Pippard), examines the process by which scientific theories become legitimized.