Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

Journal of Chemical Education

Old wine in new bottles: Quantum theory in historical perspective

Henry A. Bent

Published Dec 1, 1984• 1 citation
Publisher

Abstract

Viewed in a historical perspective, quantum physics is not new - it is merely chemistry and common sense in new dress.
DOI
10.1021/ed061p1078

Related papers

Conclusions

Jonathan Allday

From a historical point of view, a distinction can be drawn between ‘old quantum theory’ and the full quantum theory that we now use. Old quantum theory was in essence a patchwork, cobbled together by incorporating some quantum ideas into essentially classical physics. The work of Planck, Einstein, Bohr, and Sommerfeld can be bracketed as old quantum theory. This classification is not meant to undermine the tremendous achievement that old quantum theory represents, but simply to underline its standing as a stage on the way to a fully formed quantum theory, which emerged from the work of Heisenberg, Schrodinger, Born, and Dirac. The development of the photon concept is a key example of a radically new idea gradually gaining acceptance. The process works via a growing realization that more and more things can be explained in the context of the photon model.

CRC Press eBooks•Sep 21, 2022•0 citations

Conclusions

Jonathan Allday

Now that we have reached the end of our brief tour through the early history of quantum theory, we need to stop and consider some important themes. From a historical point of view, a distinction can be drawn between ‘old quantum theory’ and the full quantum theory that we now use. Old quantum theory was in essence a patchwork cobbled together from classical physics with a few quantum ideas thrown in. e works of Planck, Einstein, Bohr, and Sommerfeld can be classed as old quantum theory. is is not meant to undermine the tremendous achievements that old quantum theory represents, but simply to underline its standing as a stage on the way to a fully formed quantum theory, which slowly emerged from the works of Heisenberg, Schrödinger, Born, and Dirac.

CRC Press eBooks•Mar 3, 2009•0 citations

Cultural Understanding of Quantum Physics Through a Historical and Pedagogical Reconstruction of Old Quantum Theory and Early Quantum Mechanics

Luisa Lovisetti, Marco Giliberti

Challenges in physics education•Jan 1, 2026•0 citations

Quantum theory as an indication of a new order in physics. Part A. The development of new orders as shown through the history of physics

David Böhm

Foundations of Physics•Jan 1, 1971•71 citations

Old Wine in New Bottles: Using Classical Word Embeddings in Gate-Based Quantum NLP Systems

Damir Ćavar, Koushik Reddy Parukola, James Bryan Graves +1 more

Communications in computer and information science•Jan 1, 2026•0 citations

Old Wine Enriched in New Bottles: Kantian Flavors in Bohr's Viewpoint of Complementarity

Steen Brock

The Western Ontario series in philosophy of science•Jan 1, 2009•4 citations
From a historical point of view, a distinction can be drawn between ‘old quantum theory’ and the full quantum theory that we now use. Old quantum theory was in essence a patchwork, cobbled together by incorporating some quantum ideas into essentially classical physics. The work of Planck, Einstein, Bohr, and Sommerfeld can be bracketed as old quantum theory. This classification is not meant to undermine the tremendous achievement that old quantum theory represents, but simply to underline its standing as a stage on the way to a fully formed quantum theory, which emerged from the work of Heisenberg, Schrodinger, Born, and Dirac. The development of the photon concept is a key example of a radically new idea gradually gaining acceptance. The process works via a growing realization that more and more things can be explained in the context of the photon model.
Now that we have reached the end of our brief tour through the early history of quantum theory, we need to stop and consider some important themes. From a historical point of view, a distinction can be drawn between ‘old quantum theory’ and the full quantum theory that we now use. Old quantum theory was in essence a patchwork cobbled together from classical physics with a few quantum ideas thrown in. e works of Planck, Einstein, Bohr, and Sommerfeld can be classed as old quantum theory. is is not meant to undermine the tremendous achievements that old quantum theory represents, but simply to underline its standing as a stage on the way to a fully formed quantum theory, which slowly emerged from the works of Heisenberg, Schrödinger, Born, and Dirac.