On the History of the Lennard‐Jones Potential

Abstract This contribution describes two episodes from the history of the Lennard‐Jones (LJ) potential. The first, located in the 1920s and 1930s, is about a computational approach that aimed at pragmatics rather than truth and that remained remarkably robust when quantum theory arrived. The second episode covers the birth of the LJ substance in 1964. Due to increasing interest in computer methods, simulated model substances became objects on their own, the prime targets of investigation. The history of the LJ potential and substance exemplifies the dynamic relationship between prediction, theory, mathematization, and computer instrumentation.