This book is a brief introduction to the famous Einstein-Bohr debate over the implications of quantum theory with a special focus on the philosophical ramifications of Heisenberg's uncertainty principle. We are fortunate that there exists a fairly extensive record of the conversations between these two eminent thinkers. Indeed, it isn't hyperbolic to call the Einstein-Bohr conflict one of the greatest intellectual debates of modern times, nay of any time period. This book begins with an overview of quantum theory and its early development. It also explores some of its weirder aspects, including the dual aspect of light quanta.
'This is about gob-smacking science at the far end of reason ... Take it nice and easy and savour the experience of your mind being blown without recourse to hallucinogens' Nicholas Lezard, Guardian For most people, quantum theory is a byword for mysterious, impenetrable science. And yet for many years it was equally baffling for scientists themselves. In this magisterial book, Manjit Kumar gives a dramatic and superbly-written history of this fundamental scientific revolution, and the divisive debate at its core. Quantum theory looks at the very building blocks of our world, the particles and processes without which it could not exist. Yet for 60 years most physicists believed that quantum theory denied the very existence of reality itself. In this tour de force of science history, Manjit Kumar shows how the golden age of physics ignited the greatest intellectual debate of the twentieth century. Quantum theory is weird. In 1905, Albert Einstein suggested that light was a particle, not a wave, defying a century of experiments. Werner Heisenberg's uncertainty principle and Erwin Schrodinger's famous dead-and-alive cat are similarly strange. As Niels Bohr said, if you weren't shocked by quantum theory, you didn't really understand it. While "Quantum" sets the science in the context of the great upheavals of the modern age, Kumar's centrepiece is the conflict between Einstein and Bohr over the nature of reality and the soul of science. 'Bohr brainwashed a whole generation of physicists into believing that the problem had been solved', lamented the Nobel Prize-winning physicist Murray Gell-Mann. But in "Quantum", Kumar brings Einstein back to the centre of the quantum debate. "Quantum" is the essential read for anyone fascinated by this complex and thrilling story and by the band of brilliant men at its heart.
The definitive account of the great Bohr-Einstein debate and its continuing legacy In 1927, Niels Bohr and Albert Einstein began a debate about the interpretation and meaning of the new quantum theory. This would become one of the most famous debates in the history of science. At stake were an understanding of the purpose, and defense of the integrity, of science. What (if any) limits should we place on our expectations for what science can tell us about physical reality? Our protagonists slowly disappeared from the vanguard of physics, as its centre of gravity shifted from a war-ravaged Continental Europe to a bold, pragmatic, post-war America. What Einstein and Bohr had considered to be matters of the utmost importance were now set aside. Their debate was regarded either as settled in Bohr's favour or as superfluous to real physics. But the debate was not resolved. The problems of interpretation and meaning persisted, at least in the minds of a few stubborn physicists, such as David Bohm and John Bell, who refused to stop asking awkward questions. The Bohr-Einstein debate was rejoined, now with a new set of protagonists, on a small scale at first. Through their efforts, the debate was revealed to be about physics after all. Their questions did indeed have answers that could be found in a laboratory. As quantum entanglement became a real physical phenomenon, whole new disciplines were established, such as quantum computing, teleportation, and cryptography. The efforts of the experimentalists were rewarded with shares in the 2022 Nobel prize in physics. As Quantum Drama reveals, science owes a large debt to those who kept the discussions going against the apathy and indifference of most physicists before definitive experimental inquiries became possible. Although experiment moved the Bohr-Einstein debate to a new level and drew many into foundational research, it has by no means removed or resolved the fundamental question. There will be no Nobel prize for an answer. That will not shut off discussion. Our Drama will continue beyond our telling of it and is unlikely to reach its final scene before science ceases or the world ends.
This is the illustrated version of Dr. Andre Diem-Lane's earlier book, Spooky Physics, which was later published in a small paperback under the title Quantum Weirdness. Includes a detailed analysis of the famous Einstein-Bohr debate over the future of physics. Fully illuminated with black and white photographs and graphs.
"A lucid account of quantum theory (and why you should care) combined with a gripping narrative." —San Francisco Chronicle Quantum theory is weird. As Niels Bohr said, if you weren’t shocked by quantum theory, you didn’t really understand it. For most people, quantum theory is synonymous with mysterious, impenetrable science. And in fact for many years it was equally baffling for scientists themselves. In this tour de force of science history, Manjit Kumar gives a dramatic and superbly written account of this fundamental scientific revolution, focusing on the central conflict between Einstein and Bohr over the nature of reality and the soul of science. This revelatory book takes a close look at the golden age of physics, the brilliant young minds at its core—and how an idea ignited the greatest intellectual debate of the twentieth century.
Albert Einstein and Niels Bohr walk into the famous Hotel Métropole and sit down at the author’s table to discuss the state of quantum mechanics today. Particles that exist in two places at once, consequences that occur without a cause, objects that exist only if you look at them — quantum mechanics proves that all of this is possible, and not just in dark science labs. Look no further than your smartphone or tablet for technology made conceivable by quantum theory. From quantum computers to “teleporting” data, medicine to photosynthesis and the quantum compass in some migratory birds, Martijn van Calmthout plainly explains — to his readers and to an astounded Einstein and Bohr — how Quantum 2.0 is increasingly part of everyone’s daily life. Rather than being the exceptional domain, Van Calmthout shows how quantum mechanics is actually part of our tangible world, and may even be the very crux of our existence.
"Quantum theory, the most successful physical theory of all time, provoked intense debate between the twentieth century's two greatest physicists, Niels Bohr and Albert Einstein. The debate concerned the nature of quantum theory, and the major contradictions and conceptual problems at its heart." "This second edition contains sympathetic accounts of the views of both Bohr and Einstein, and a thorough study of the argument between them. It includes non-technical and non-mathematical accounts of the development of quantum theory and relativity, and also the work of David Bohm and John Bell that restored interest in Einstein's views. It has been extensively revised and updated to cover recent developments, and the account of ongoing work has been brought up to date. A new chapter is devoted to describing the whole area of quantum information theory, from the work of Richard Feynman and David Deutsch that initiated the study of quantum computation to the theoretical and experimental approach to quantum cryptography." "This book provides an account of the development of quantum theory, which will appeal to anyone with an interest in the fundamental questions of physics, its philosophy and its history."--BOOK JACKET.
Few revolutions in science have been more far-reaching--but less understood--than the quantum revolution in physics. Everyday experience cannot prepare us for the sub-atomic world, where quantum effects become all-important. Here, particles can look like waves, and vice versa; electrons seem to lose their identity and instead take on a shifting, unpredictable appearance that depends on how they are being observed; and a single photon may sometimes behave as if it could be in two places at once. In the world of quantum mechanics, uncertainty and ambiguity become not just unavoidable, but essential ingredients of science--a development so disturbing that to Einstein "it was as if God were playing dice with the universe." And there is no one better able to explain the quantum revolution as it approaches the century mark than David Lindley. He brings the quantum revolution full circle, showing how the familiar and trustworthy reality of the world around us is actually a consequence of the ineffable uncertainty of the subatomic quantum world--the world we can't see.
