Francis Bitter and “Landau diamagnetism”

A forgotten paper by Francis Bitter on the diamagnetism of a quantum electron gas, published in 1930, is discussed. By an approximate method, later considered unsatisfactory, Bitter obtained a result qualitatively similar to the standard formula first established by Landau in the same year.Editor's note: This paper is intended as an historical note and is published in keeping with our policy of publishing such documentary material from time to time. 3 See, for example, the obituary in theNew York Times, July 27, 1967.