What is Real?
The Unfinished Quest for the Meaning of Quantum Physics
1st Edition
Published on 31. May 2018
384 pages
978-1-4736-6134-9 (ISBN)
Description
Every physicist agrees quantum mechanics is among humanity's finest scientific achievements. But ask what it means, and the result will be a brawl. For a century, most physicists have followed Niels Bohr's Copenhagen interpretation and dismissed questions about the reality underlying quantum physics as meaningless. A mishmash of solipsism and poor reasoning, Copenhagen endured, as Bohr's students vigorously protected his legacy, and the physics community favoured practical experiments over philosophical arguments. As a result, questioning the status quo long meant professional ruin. And yet, from the 1920s to today, physicists like John Bell, David Bohm, and Hugh Everett persisted in seeking the true meaning of quantum mechanics. What is Real? is the gripping story of this battle of ideas and the courageous scientists who dared to stand up for truth.
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06/2019
John Murray Publishers Ltd
€16.50
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Person
Adam Becker is a science journalist with a PhD in astrophysics. He has written for the New York Times, BBC, NPR, Scientific American, New Scientist, Quanta and many other publications. His first book, What Is Real?, was a New York Times Book Review Editor's Choice and was longlisted for the PEN Literary Science Writing Award. He has been a science journalism fellow at the Santa Fe Institute and a science communicator in residence at the Simons Institute for the Theory of Computing. He lives in California.
