Between the years of 1924 and 1925 Einstein wrote a series of articles where he applied the methods of quantum statistics as developed by Bose to a gas of noninteracting massive particles. In the second of these articles Einstein predicted that after a certain density threshold had been reached, particles would condense into the ground state - a phenomenon which later came to be known under the name of Bose-Einstein Condensation (BEC). Here I discuss Einstein's article as well as the polemics it brought about. The theory of BEC is also explored in conjunction with the theory of condensation in real gases.
statistical mechanics; Bose-Einstein condensation; history of physics
