Escape from Shadow Physics
The Quest to End the Dark Ages of Quantum Theory
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- $25.99
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- $25.99
Publisher Description
The "artfully written...splendid history of classical and quantum physics" (Science) that "rightfully highlights the limitations of current physics" (Wall Street Journal) and argues for a revolutionary new understanding of quantum mechanics
The received wisdom in quantum physics is that, at the deepest levels of reality, there are no actual causes for atomic events. This idea led to the outlandish belief that quantum objects—indeed, reality itself—aren’t real unless shaped by human measurement. Einstein mocked this idea, asking whether his bed spread out across his room unless he looked at it. And yet it remains one of the most influential ideas in science and our culture.
In Escape from Shadow Physics, Adam Forrest Kay takes up Einstein’s torch: reality isn’t mysterious or dependent on human measurement, but predictable and independent of us. At the heart of his argument is groundbreaking research with little drops of oil. These droplets behave as particles do in the long-overlooked quantum theory of pilot waves; crucially, they showcase quantum behavior while being described by classical physics. And that classical-quantum interface points to a true understanding of quantum mechanics and a reasonable universe.
A bold and essential reset of the field, Escape from Shadow Physics describes the kind of true scientific revolution that comes along just once—or less—in a century.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
MIT researcher Kay debuts with a rigorous investigation of whether quantum mechanics constitutes the most fundamental means of understanding physics or if there's "more detail hiding at a deeper level." The implications are huge, Kay contends, explaining that if the former is true, then the "moon is not there when nobody looks at it" and "an entirely new universe is created each time something happens." Kay describes Niels Bohr and Albert Einstein's debates on the subject, with the latter playing skeptic to the former's arguments in favor of the physics community's consensus that quantum mechanics is fundamental and objects don't exist "separately of any observation." This dogma is incorrect, Kay argues, suggesting that because quantum mechanics is statistical by nature, it cannot be complete because there has to be a deeper explanation underlying the statistical patterns that the theory describes. The author also traces how scientific resistance to the theory of plate tectonics and the idea that heat is "an emergent property" rather than a discrete "thing" gave way to mounting contrary evidence, suggesting Bohr's adherents will face a similar reckoning in light of future discoveries. The focus on theory ensures this doesn't get bogged down in abstruse equations, and the generous historical context offers a point of entry for those with only passing knowledge of quantum theory. Readers will be enlightened.
