If Einstein Had Known

A groundbreaking work on quantum physics, tracing more than a century of physics history, that explores the questions that have occupied the greatest physicists.

If Einstein Had Known is a unique exploration of Alain Aspect’s fascination with the debate between two giants of physics Niels Bohr and Albert Einstein over the interpretation of quantum mechanics. Aspect places this debate within the incredible history of quantum physics. And while his admiration for Einstein is clear, he also shows us how Einstein’s quasi-philosophical controversy with Bohr led to very real experiments, and to the invention of new quantum technologies.

Almost half a century after his own experiments, Aspect was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for demonstrating that indeed it was necessary to abandon Einstein’s vision of the quantum world.

Recounting his career, Aspect explains with passion and clarity how he demonstrated one of the most extraordinary properties of quantum entanglement and tries to imagine Einstein's reaction to his experimental results.