The Overcoming of the Mechanistic World View in Planck's Research around 1900: a Comparison with the Contributions of Boltzmann, Wien, Rayleigh, Einstein

Abstract

The studies on the spectrum of the cavity radiation around 1900 are analyzed. The originality of Planck’s approach is discussed, related to the overcoming of the mechanistic world view, and in contrast with Boltzmann’s ideas. It is discussed how Rayleigh and Jeans researches were mainly related with the equipartition theorem, did not search for an expression of the spectrum of radiation, and had no influence on Plack’s thought. Finally, the relationship between Planck’ and Einstein’s contribution is briefly considered.