Dirac's papers disappeared from archive.org?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion centers around the availability of Paul Dirac's papers on archive.org and the Royal Society's website. Participants express concerns about the apparent removal of these papers, explore potential reasons for this change, and share their experiences with accessing Dirac's works.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Debate/contested
  • Meta-discussion

Main Points Raised

  • One participant recalls that many of Dirac's papers were previously available on archive.org but are now missing, questioning whether there was a purge or if their memory is faulty.
  • Another participant suggests that copyright issues may have led to the removal of the papers from archive.org.
  • Some participants note that only a couple of Dirac's 1928 papers are currently accessible through the Royal Society, contrasting with earlier access to more papers.
  • A participant confirms having downloaded Dirac's early 1925/26 papers earlier in the year, expressing disappointment over their current inaccessibility.
  • There is speculation about the copyright status of these papers, with one participant suggesting they should be in the public domain based on UK copyright laws, although this is not legally confirmed.
  • One participant humorously suggests that a radical could make the papers available from an unconventional location, reflecting frustration over the situation.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants generally agree that Dirac's papers were more accessible in the past and express disappointment over their current unavailability. However, there is no consensus on the reasons for this change, with differing views on copyright implications and the nature of the removal.

Contextual Notes

Participants reference specific URLs for accessing Dirac's papers and discuss the implications of copyright duration, but the discussion does not resolve the legal status or reasons for the removal of the papers.

jjustinn
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I posted this a few weeks back in General Physics, but didn't get any bites -- I still can't find the "move" feature, so preemptive apologies for any breach of etiquette...

I could swear that a few months ago, there were dozens of papers by Dirac available on archive.org -- page after page of them...but now, there's nothing -- even just a search for "dirac" turns up less than one page.

Was there some kind of purge, or something like that? Or is my memory botched?

Also, while looking for a substitute, I found a link on Dirac's Wikipedia article advertising "Free online access to Dirac's classic 1920s papers from Royal Society's Proceedings", but upon following it, I'm almost immediately repelled by a paywall...anyone had any experience with that?

Thanks,
Justin
 
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jjustinn said:
Was there some kind of purge, or something like that?
Probably. After all, there are copyrights of journals which published these papers.
 
unusualname said:
I'm sure the Royal Society had more free access in the past, but it seems now only Dirac's two 1928 papers on 'The Quantum Theory of the Electron' are available.

They're near the bottom of this search list:

http://royalsocietypublishing.org/s...standard&hits=80&sortspec=relevance&submit=Go

Ah, nice -- I guess after hitting a pay wall after clicking two or three of them I assumed the rest would be the same. It'd be nice if there was some visual indication of the difference -- but oh well -- thanks for the tip!
 
I have just confirmed that other 1920s papers were freely available earlier this year, in fact I have copies of Dirac's early 1925/26 Quantum Theory papers downloaded from rspa.royalsocietypublishing.org in January this year (the pdf files had been edited to indicate the download location and date)

Sad that they have now removed this service, even for UK ip addresses. Times must be tough if +80 year old scientific papers can't be made available free to the public.
 
unusualname said:
I have just confirmed that other 1920s papers were freely available earlier this year, in fact I have copies of Dirac's early 1925/26 Quantum Theory papers downloaded from rspa.royalsocietypublishing.org in January this year (the pdf files had been edited to indicate the download location and date)

Sad that they have now removed this service, even for UK ip addresses. Times must be tough if +80 year old scientific papers can't be made available free to the public.

Incredible. According to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries'_copyright_length, in the UK, for items whose copyright expiration is based upon the publication date, the duration is 70 years -- so, though I'm definitely not a lawyer, it sounds like these should be public domain (unless for some reason the clock doesn't start on articles until the creator's death)...I'd be interested to know what caused this massive purge -- since it seems to have been at at least two major repositories (RSPA + archive.org)...maybe I'll do some sleuthing.

Whatever the situation, it would be awesome if some copyleft radical with a copy of these in her cache would make them available from a server on the moon or something...but I won't hold my breath.

In any case, thanks again for the confirmation -- it's hard to keep up a healthy feeling of righteous indignation if you're not even sure the thing you're indignant about actually happened.
 

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