Physics Today

Stern and Gerlach: How a Bad Cigar Helped Reorient Atomic Physics

Břetislav Friedrich, Dudley R. Herschbach

Published Dec 1, 2003• 177 citations

Abstract

The history of the Stern–Gerlach experiment reveals how persistence, accident, and luck can sometimes combine in just the right ways.

DOI: 10.1063/1.1650229

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