Re: problems with classical physics

[Leigh Palmer <palmer@SFU.CA>]

> Similarly, the fact that nobody had a theoretical basis for the Rydberg
> formula wasn't perceived as a burning problem -- but when a basis did
> emerge, it was a huge boost.

A more general curiosity was revealed in 1908 when Walter Ritz published
his generalization of the Rydberg result for hydrogen to spectra of other
atoms. The mechanism behind the Ritz combination principle was readily
understood in terms of quantum mechanics five years later, when Bohr
published his model of hydrogen. Somehow the Ritz combination principle
gets left out of modern physics courses these days.

Leigh