  The largest failure of the old, Bohr-Sommerfeld quantum theory was with the
helium atom. It brought about the theory's demise. I show that this failure
does not originate, as commonly believed, with the orbit concept per se.
Instead, it was caused by the wrong choice of orbits, compounded by ignorance
of the exclusion principle. Choosing semiclassical electron oscillations
through the He nucleus, I calculate a singlet ground-state energy that rivals
in accuracy with quantum-mechanical results. The same method reveals Bohr's
historic energy value as the forbidden triplet ground state--a result beyond
the reach of quantum mechanics. At the qualitative level, the concept of
Coulomb oscillations visually explains the major features in the He double
spectrum in terms of crossed or parallel orbit orientation.
