Almost half a century passed between the discovery of superconductivity byKamerlingh Onnes and the theoretical explanation of the phenomenon by Bardeen,Cooper and Schrieffer. During the intervening years the brightest minds intheoretical physics tried and failed to develop a microscopic understanding ofthe effect. A summary of some of those unsuccessful attempts to understandsuperconductivity not only demonstrates the extraordinary achievement made byformulating the BCS theory, but also illustrates that mistakes are a naturaland healthy part of the scientific discourse, and that inapplicable, evenincorrect theories can turn out to be interesting and inspiring.
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