Planck, a man of exceptional probity and integrity, accumulated not only honors, but also positions of power. These included that of permanent secretary to the Berlin Academy, one of the most influential positions in German science, and president of the KaiserWilhelm-Gesellschaft, the prestigious organization set up to create research institutes at private expense.
Planck's positive achievements as an administrator were significant. His institutional support was instrumental in the establishment of the new quantum mechanics and his initiative led to the creation of the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Institut für Physik in 1925, which was later renamed the Max-Planck-Institut. But the overriding impression of Planck conveyed by Dilemmas is that of a man fighting rearguard actions on many fronts. After the first world war, much that Planck held dear in science and in life was threatened.
The threats were material, ethical, ideological. The first world war left German science ostracized by the international scientific community. ...
