Trusting Atoms: The Last Trials of Ludwig Boltzmann

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'Trusting Atoms: The Last Trials of Ludwig Boltzmann' - A new science play by Rowena Fletcher-Wood. In partnership with the Royal Society of Chemistry and college of Engineering and Physical Sciences at the University of Birmingham.

"It is not possible to find a theory free of its creator: there is no love without lovers, no music without musicians, no theory without theorists."

'Trusting Atoms' brings to life the passion, drama and suffering of one perhaps long-forgotten scientist of the 19th Century. In a hostile scientific environment, we are faced with new questions about the roles of scientific fashions, mental health and women in science. Join Ludwig Boltzmann in his battle to save the dying memory of atoms, his equation and so his career.

History

Ludwig Boltzmann (1884-1906) was an Austrian physicist and philosopher who developed the kinetic theory of gases and is best known for his statistical theory of thermodynamics. His famous equation for the second law, S=klnΩ appears on his tombstone. As an academic, he spent much of his life trying to prove this equation under the onslaught of scientific scepticism about the existence of atomic matter.

Henriette von Aigentier met Ludwig Boltzmann in 1872, years before women were allowed in Austrian universities. She had been refused permission to audit physics and maths lectures unofficially for teaching these topics, but under Boltzmann's guidance appealed successfully.

Lise Meitner became a physics student at Vienna and later the second woman to achieve a doctorate there in 1905. In 1926, she was granted a physics professorship at the University of Berlin, the first woman in Germany to receive such a post.

Manic Depression

Ludwig Boltzmann is thought to have been an undiagnosed manic depressant

Manic depression (bipolar disorder) is characterised by extreme mood swings between high and low states, varying in duration. First identified in 1851 by psychiatrist Jean-Pierre Falret as "la folie circulaire", circular insanity, it is believed to affect up to 1 in 100 people and can be life threatening. Sufferers may experience intense anxiety, fatigue, loss of concentration and reduced productivity, showing exaggerated or disproportionate responses to life events.

During the depressed phase, sufferers lose interest in things they enjoy, become apathetic and fail to self-motivate. Plagued by constant feelings of hopelessness and despair, they often experience self-doubt, withdraw from friends and family and express suicidal ideation.

During the manic phase, sufferers experience euphoria and hyperarousal, feel full of energy and don't get enough sleep. They talk faster and have scattered, rapidly oscillating thoughts, complicating conversation. Loss of judgement may lead to radical actions/life changing decisions, and can be intensified by stimulants, even leading to hallucinations.

Cast

Jack Richardson - Ludwig Boltzmann
Provence Maydew - Henriette Boltzmann
John Cattell - Ernst Mach
Bob Joyce - Max Planck
Matilda Bott - Lise Meitner
John Pritchard - Erwin and Chair
Jon Wood - Maxwell

Creatives

Tatty Hennessey - Director
Rowena Fletcher-Wood - Playwright and producer
Guy Fletcher-Wood - Producer