Quantum Drama
Bohr, Einstein, and the Integrity of Science
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- USD 24.99
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- USD 24.99
Descripción editorial
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.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This stimulating if daunting study from science writer Baggott (Quantum Reality) and UC Berkeley historian Heilbron (The Incomparable Monsignor) recaps the origins of the ongoing scientific disagreement over the nature of quantum physics. Starting in the 1920s, Niels Bohr, Werner Heisenberg, and other physicists argued that the uncertainties inherent in quantum mechanics meant that physics as a discipline could only hope to calculate statistical probabilities, rather than elucidate rigid laws that produce certain outcomes. This embrace of indeterminacy led to mind-bending ideas, such as the notions that objective reality doesn't exist and that light and matter are simultaneously discrete particles and diffuse waves. Among the dissidents who pushed back against this scientific consensus were Albert Einstein and Erwin Schrödinger, who insisted that science should seek out deterministic theories and criticized the bizarre implications of Bohr's ideas. (The famous "Schrödinger's cat" thought experiment aimed to highlight the absurdity that, according to quantum physics, a feline test subject could be simultaneously alive and dead.) Baggott and Heilbron provide astute historical context, suggesting that quantum mechanics's "emphasis on the uncontrollable, acausal... behaviour of the microworld" reflected the uncertainties of a generation still reeling from WWI, though the substantial doses of math and arcane detail on scientific experiments will be heavy going for casual readers. It's an enlightening if dense overview of an open-ended scientific dispute. Photos.
