AT&T Archives: Matter Waves, Holden and Germer on Wave Nature and the Davisson-Germer Experiment

Shown in college classrooms (occasionally, still!), this 28-minute film gives both historical and scientific insight to the wave nature of elementary, atomic-level particles. The film’s guides are Lester Germer and Alan Holden, both Bell Laboratories scientists.
In 1927, Bell Labs physicists Clinton Davisson and Lester Germer performed an experiment involving electron patterns on the surface of nickel. Their experiment confirmed the hypothesis that particles also have a wave-like nature. Davisson won the Nobel Prize for this in 1937; he was the first Bell Labs scientist to win the Nobel. He retired from the Labs in 1946.
Lester Germer was a graduate student lab assistant when he worked with Davisson in 1927. He had started at the Labs-while it was still part of Western Electric-back in 1919. Later, he headed the Labs’ contact physics department, and developed equipment that allowed for the visual display of low-energy electron diffraction patterns on a fluorescent screen. By 1961 he was ready to retire, but before he did, he made this film, which re-creates the famous 1927 experiment.
Dr. Alan Holden, the host and narrator of the film, started at Bell Labs in 1925. Though trained as a chemist, he joined in the accounting department, then publications, finally starting work as a chemist (and physicist) for Bell Labs around 1936. He also was instrumental in promoting science education, both inside the Labs and out in the community. He retired from the Labs in 1960.
The film was directed by John R. Friedman, who later joined the staff of Bell Labs, producing many of the films in the AT&T Archives over the next few decades. This film was produced by Educational Services Incorporated; it was intended for classroom use.
Another film with Alan Holden, Crystals, directed by and written with filmmaker Richard Leacock, who did other work for the Bell System:
archive.org/details/Crystals1958
Footage Courtesy of AT&T Archives and History Center, Warren, NJ

[@dominicestebanrice7460]

Astonishingly good exposition. These guys were so much more detail-oriented than most of today's educational content providers.

[@XxfishpastexX]

I love this style of documenting scientific theory much more than the quirky, loud way I had to learn. It's intense because they know that this information NEEDS to be carried over. Kind of surreal and creepy.

[@namelastname4077]

how is this creepy? it's more creepy that you think it's creepy

[@davidhoward5586]

Who would have wanted this guy as a teacher through junior and high school. I was lucky enough to have attended school from 1959 through 1968. So very different to how our children are being taught today.

[@rockets4kids]

You can thank Sputnik for that.

[@nihaalsinghbhogal4837]

How laborious were experiments back in 1920s and 30s, but these guys did them because they knew how important they were for the advancement of science.. Hats off..

[@godfreecharlie]

I watched the Holden video on crystals a few years ago, a couple of times and then I came across this gem. I now am subscribed to the ATT Tech channel and binge watch occasionally. Ya just can't get anything like this on cable, which is why I get 90% of my TV/movie input from streaming. And 90% of the streaming comes from KZbin. There's worse ways to indulge my viewing pleasure, and I know there's gotta be better than KZbin out there but with the right filtering algorithms I've kept most offerings relevant and redeeming. Thanks ATT and all involved in making these videos available!!!

[@annaoaulinovna]

Thank you so much you are old but golden scientists. We can now can see Atomic crystal structures by electron microscopes. Great premiers.

[@arielshikoba1857]

MY MIND IS BLOWN!!! 🙌👍😊

[@fl0atpvnk]

“I hope you’ve got over the shock of learning.” Nope, still trying to get over that one.

[@wadebanks8945]

AT&T videos are very thought provoking

[@infinitylove2713]

really helpful full... excited to watch such videos from legends...

[@madhunavlakha8109]

thank you for posting this you deserve a million dollar for this

[@DebraCalvo]

I just found this series. My life is complete. lol

[@TheRock-zo7zl]

very very thanks sir for such a great video

[@procactus9109]

Another good example of very a good doco, start to finish it was interesting and informative. Now all America spits out is ignorance flem in the form of unModernMarvels and TheBlunderverse.

[@SwampDonkey64]

The difference is we use to educate our children on categories that were fundamental to life and Science and the greater good of the evolution of technology and man as a whole. Also focusing on the fundamental ability to articulate. Now education is no more than indoctrination of propaganda designed to serve the “elite”. Our educational system has been hijacked by politicians paid by lobbyists to make the system lean in favor of the elite. By mentally impregnating our children with diversity mixed with singularity. Which divides us into groups and separates those groups into even more groups. This is the rule of divide and conquer. The sad truth is man has two paths to choose from. To unite as a single entity and populate the cosmos. Or. Divide ourselves into self proclaimed righteous groups with each group believing they are hypothesis is the correct hypothesis. We know for a fact that diversity only causes more diversity, so our destiny seems bleak. The question is will man achieve the populating of the cosmos or will we self-destruct in a nuclear apocalypse brought on by diversity and hatred?

[@scarakus]

This is one of the most comprehensive docs about light waves i've ever seen, and it mentioned nothing about the drab ole vague 'double slit' experiment.

[@voidisyinyangvoidisyinyang885]

that is explained by de Broglie's momentum (instead of the wavelength)

[@voidisyinyangvoidisyinyang885]

This is because the energy of the electron varies directly with the electron voltage and the momentum varies with the square root of the voltage and the wavelength varies inversely with the square root of the voltage. Lester Germer

[@danebeck7900]

The double slit experiment is just a simplified case of this same diffraction principle.

[@subharunbanerjee6771]

best video on the internet.

[@koribush5742]

Love this guy😊

[@baileyward1]

This is incredibly interesting!

[@orange70383]

This guy rocks.

[@rh001YT]

Looking at the flow of history on the subject matter of atoms and sub-atomic particles one can see that there was initially a bias that "particles" would behave as particles all the way down. They were going on the assumption that observations at the macro level could be mapped down to the atomic level. deBroglie was just mischievous enough to reject that mapping.

[@Herzeleydt_Diesentrueb]

No doodling in the background ! How lovely...

[@dhyeyy]

🤯this is crazy!!

[@greensombrero3641]

youtube is incredible. a time machine at least in part.

[@unnilnonium]

I would love to get over the shock of learning that light comes in particles, Alan, but I can't find that video!! Alan Holden was the man. Where is the counterpart video? If only someone could unearth the film. I thought it could be the Professor John G. King PSSC video, but that was 2 years earlier.

[@warrenambrose4998]

It would be priceless to have Tesla's version... The paradox of a non-linear pixelated reality vs. the traditional wave / frequency understanding of matter takes learning both to grasp quantum mechanics... How far did Tesla actually go into understanding non-linear quantum realm? Every conductor used today has his finger prints on it....

[@denelson83]

How come one of these guys looks like Rod Serling?

[@Maru5410]

Interesting.

[@jojolafrite90]

Yep... More than 50 years that scientists repeat the same things...

[@SpartanONegative]

Defraction. I see the displaced light around everything. It looks like its raining too constantly for me too.

[@user-ge8wo5gk8z]

Арсен, говорят, что сегодня у вас какая-то трансляция в 21:00 ?

[@Debjit625]

I saw the whole rainbow ...... Glad to find the video

[@proteus1]

Modern University's are good at over complicating what you wish to learn these days. Expensive fees for the governments shareholders.

[@alm000]

In Wavessssssss \M/

[@scarakus]

The diffraction makes little sun dogs

[@terraint3697]

But first you must prove electrons, photons and the other mystical things mentioned. Can you see them?

[@ds99]

It's interesting but what sort of benefit did finding this information about the relationship of particles and waves bring? I was trying to find the point and cannot determine it.

[@pooltrader]

ds99 The point is this, going back to Davisson and Kunsman they discovered diffraction by way of electron bombardment on platinum but didn't know what they had discovered. Walter Elsasser is the one who truly discovered what all of these numskulls didn't understand. He read Einsteins paper about Broglie 's matter waves, and knew about Davisson and Kunsman experiment. He put the two together and explained electron diffraction for which he is still waiting for his Nobel. In the end I will leave you with a Feynman mussing, " diffraction is a wave property" " impossible, absolutely impossible. to explain in any classical way," Quantum mechanics has failed miserable, in effect you cannot explain any observation of diffraction with one way particles!!!!!!!!!

[@christopher7218]

+ds99 we wouldn't have any of our modern computers, lcd screens, and other modern electronic technology without an understanding of the wave/particle duality of matter (atoms)

[@girishchaudhary4919]

I think about matter wave receiver😎😉

[@klaasbernd]

In my industry we run into the problem that it becomes difficult to project the lines of a processor chip on the wafer. The problem in this case is the particle nature of light. Normally if transistors are large, so many light matter interactions in the resist take place, that lines are produced. However, because we want to make smaller lines we use higher energy light. this means that in order not to overcook the resist we need less interactions on a smaller area. Now the lines become all gritty and the transistors that are build are not as effective anymore. One personal example, I whish I could draw across the chat to explain it better.

[@SpartanONegative]

My body creates microwaves. Iv shown it on my channel. .

[@gizaegypt9481]

Wavelengths technology ie at&t global by IBM Oracle ai Algorithm Predictive reasoning matrix thread targeting ie control mechanism of internet of all things. A mechanism of ism satilight district governance.

[@CarlMazur]

They created all these wave-forms... That's how techno got started.

[@uploadJ]

Nope. Not buying it. Einstein et al in working out what they thought how photoelectric effect worked at the atomic level were WRONG in making several basic assumptions and identifying some sort of ''particle' action as being responsible ...

[@uploadJ]

FU boy. This is a bonafide legitimate issue with a sound argument behind it. Address the facts or take a seat.

[@uploadJ]

LOOK at the size of an atom (~ 1 Angstrom) versus the wavelength of the light 4000 - 7000 Angstroms that impinges on the surface of a metal yielding the ejection of an electron by purported 'particle' interaction., No. Incorrect. Some other action is taking place to CAUSE this. THOSE are the facts. Einstein failed to fully explore this phenom.

[@uploadJ]

You are an idiot. The FACT it occurs at all with such a difference in size is the anomaly that remains UNEXPLAINED by you or Einstein. Einstein made erroneous estimates as to relative SIZES of the light wave and atom size. The WAVELENGTH of the light wave and SIZE of the atom are NOT up for debate. They are FACTS. Do you see your error yet? You are BLINDED by your adherence to what the text books TELL you is "fact".. G'bye, goober.

[@hwirtwirt4500]

So you're nitpicking research done 100 years ago with all the knowledge gained since. That don't amount to a hill of beans, Einstein's work speaks for itself and is the most notable breakthrough in physics since Newton. What have you added to the knowledge base of science? Other than your chickenshit comment.

[@GiddeonFox]

Yep and this is why you totally can't pick up AM radio (wavelength ~500 meters) with a handheld device having a tiny internal antenna. Doesn't it suck to have to drag around 500 meters of cable everywhere you go just to listen to the radio in your car? Ugh I wish light waves had some sort of, I don't know, *resonances* that allow it to interact with smaller objects, but nope!

[@user-wj4vz5pg6g]

日本語でおｋ

[@fl0atpvnk]

w

[@itzxeobot2512]

Tatti vedio

[@GalileoFigar0]

What is his accent? It sounds made up,

[@thekaiser4333]

Clearly Satanic.