The Solvay Conferences (french: Conseils Solvay) have been devoted to outstanding preeminent open problems in both

physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...

and

chemistry Chemistry is the science, scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the Chemical element, elements that make up matter to the chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions ...

. They began with the historic invitation-only 1911 Solvay Conference on Physics, considered a turning point in the world of physics, and continue to the present day. Following the initial success of 1911, they have since been organised by the International Solvay Institutes for Physics and Chemistry, founded by the

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct languag ...

industrialist

Ernest Solvay Ernest Gaston Joseph Solvay (; 16 April 1838 – 26 May 1922) was a Belgian chemist, industrialist and philanthropist. Born in Rebecq, he was prevented by his acute pleurisy from going to university. He worked in his uncle's chemical fac ...

in 1912 and 1913, and located in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

. The institutes coordinate conferences, workshops, seminars, and colloquia. Recent Solvay Conferences usually go through a three year cycle: the Solvay Conference on Physics, followed by a gap year, followed by the Solvay Conference on Chemistry.Welcome to the Solvay Institutes
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Notable Solvay conferences

First conference

Hendrik Lorentz was chairman of the first Solvay Conference on Physics, held in Brussels from 30 October to 3 November 1911. The subject was ''Radiation and the Quanta''. This conference looked at the problems of having two approaches, namely

classical physics Classical physics is a group of physics theories that predate modern, more complete, or more widely applicable theories. If a currently accepted theory is considered to be modern, and its introduction represented a major paradigm shift, then the ...

and

quantum theory Quantum theory may refer to: Science *Quantum mechanics, a major field of physics *Old quantum theory, predating modern quantum mechanics * Quantum field theory, an area of quantum mechanics that includes: ** Quantum electrodynamics ** Quantum ...

Albert Einstein Albert Einstein ( ; ; 14 March 1879 – 18 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist, widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest and most influential physicists of all time. Einstein is best known for developing the theory ...

was the second youngest physicist present (the youngest one was Lindemann). Other members of the ''Solvay Congress'' were experts including

Marie Curie Marie Salomea Skłodowska–Curie ( , , ; born Maria Salomea Skłodowska, ; 7 November 1867 – 4 July 1934) was a Polish and naturalized-French physicist and chemist who conducted pioneering research on radioactivity. She was the first ...

Ernest Rutherford Ernest Rutherford, 1st Baron Rutherford of Nelson, (30 August 1871 – 19 October 1937) was a New Zealand physicist who came to be known as the father of nuclear physics. ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' considers him to be the greatest ...

and

Henri Poincaré Jules Henri Poincaré ( S: stress final syllable ; 29 April 1854 – 17 July 1912) was a French mathematician, theoretical physicist, engineer, and philosopher of science. He is often described as a polymath, and in mathematics as "The ...

(see image for attendee list).

Third conference

The third Solvay Conference on Physics was held in April 1921, soon after

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. Most German scientists were barred from attending. In protest at this action,

, although he had renounced German citizenship in 1901 and become a Swiss citizen, declined his invitation to attend the conference and publicly renounced any German citizenship again. Because anti-Semitism had been on the rise, Einstein accepted the invitation by Dr.

Chaim Weizmann Chaim Azriel Weizmann ( he, חיים עזריאל ויצמן ', russian: Хаим Евзорович Вейцман, ''Khaim Evzorovich Veytsman''; 27 November 1874 – 9 November 1952) was a Russian-born biochemist, Zionist leader and Israe ...

, the president of the World Zionist Organization, for a trip to the United States to raise money.

Fifth conference

Perhaps the most famous conference was the fifth Solvay Conference on Physics, which was held from 24 to 29 October 1927; the subject was ''

Electron The electron ( or ) is a subatomic particle with a negative one elementary electric charge. Electrons belong to the first generation of the lepton particle family, and are generally thought to be elementary particles because they have no kn ...

s and

Photon A photon () is an elementary particle that is a quantum of the electromagnetic field, including electromagnetic radiation such as light and radio waves, and the force carrier for the electromagnetic force. Photons are massless, so they always ...

s'' and the world's most notable physicists met to discuss the newly formulated quantum theory. The leading figures were

and

Niels Bohr Niels Henrik David Bohr (; 7 October 1885 – 18 November 1962) was a Danish physicist who made foundational contributions to understanding atomic structure and quantum theory, for which he received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1922. B ...

. Seventeen of the 29 attendees were or became

Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfr ...

winners, including

who, alone among them, had won Nobel Prizes in two separate scientific disciplines.Lorentz & the Solvay conferences
Instituut-Lorentz, Leiden University Attendees Albert Einstein, Niels Bohr,

Werner Heisenberg Werner Karl Heisenberg () (5 December 1901 – 1 February 1976) was a German theoretical physicist and one of the main pioneers of the theory of quantum mechanics. He published his work in 1925 in a breakthrough paper. In the subsequent series ...

Paul Dirac Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac (; 8 August 1902 – 20 October 1984) was an English theoretical physicist who is regarded as one of the most significant physicists of the 20th century. He was the Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at the Univer ...

, and

Erwin Schrödinger Erwin Rudolf Josef Alexander Schrödinger (, ; ; 12 August 1887 – 4 January 1961), sometimes written as or , was a Nobel Prize-winning Austrian physicist with Irish citizenship who developed a number of fundamental results in quantum theo ...

would be listed among the top ten greatest physicists of all-time, in a 1999 poll of leading physicists for ''

Physics World ''Physics World'' is the membership magazine of the Institute of Physics, one of the largest physical societies in the world. It is an international monthly magazine covering all areas of physics, pure and applied, and is aimed at physicists in ...

'' magazine.

Solvay conferences on physics

Conferences on physics gallery

File:1911 Solvay conference.jpg, First Conference, 1911 File:Solvay conference 1913.jpg, Second Conference, 1913 File:Third Solvay Conference, 1921.jpg, Third Conference, 1921 File:Solvay conference, 1924.jpg, Fourth Conference, 1924 File:Solvay conference 1927.jpg, Fifth Conference, 1927 File:Solvay conference 1930.jpg, Sixth Conference, 1930 File:Solvay1933Large.jpg, Seventh Conference, 1933 File:Solvay conference 1948 g.jpg, Eighth Conference, 1948 File:Solvay conference 1951 g.jpg, Ninth Conference, 1951 File:Solvay conference 1954 g.jpg, Tenth Conference, 1954

Solvay conferences on chemistry

Conferences on chemistry gallery

File:Solvay conference, 1922.jpg, First Conference, 1922