The International Year of Quantum Science and Technology

In the spring of 1925, a young Werner Heisenberg was suffering from an acute allergy attack while working at the University of Göttingen, Germany. Seeking relief, he headed to the craggy German island of Helgoland, where he found not only respite from pollen but also the time and space to clarify his ideas about the intensity of spectral lines. On returning to Göttingen, he worked with Max Born and Jordan Pascual to develop matrix mechanics—the first consistent description of what would become modern quantum mechanics.