How Physics Confronts Reality: Einstein Was Correct, but Bohr Won the Game - Couverture rigide

Newton, Roger G

 
9789814277020: How Physics Confronts Reality: Einstein Was Correct, but Bohr Won the Game
Couverture rigide
ISBN 10 : 9814277029 ISBN 13 : 9789814277020
Editeur : World Scientific Publishing Co Pte Ltd, 2009

Synopsis

This book recalls, for nonscientific readers, the history of quantum mechanics, the main points of its interpretation, and Einsteins objections to it, together with the responses engendered by his arguments. Most popular discussions on the strange aspects of quantum mechanics ignore the fundamental fact that Einstein was correct in his insistence that the theory does not directly describe reality. While that fact does not remove the theory's counterintuitive features, it casts them in a different light. Context is provided by following the history of two central aspects of physics: the elucidation of the basic structure of the world made up of particles, and the explanation, as well as the prediction, of how objects move. This history, prior to quantum mechanics, reveals that whereas theories and discoveries concerning the structure of nature became increasingly realistic, the laws of motion, even as they became more powerful, became more and more abstract and remote from intuitive notions of reality. Newton's laws of motion gained their abstract power by sacrificing direct and intuitive contact with real experience. Arriving 250 years after Newton, the break with a direct description of reality embodied in quantum mechanics was nevertheless profound.

Les informations fournies dans la section « Synopsis » peuvent faire référence à une autre édition de ce titre.

Présentation de l'éditeur

This book recalls, for nonscientific readers, the history of quantum mechanics, the main points of its interpretation, and Einsteins objections to it, together with the responses engendered by his arguments. Most popular discussions on the strange aspects of quantum mechanics ignore the fundamental fact that Einstein was correct in his insistence that the theory does not directly describe reality. While that fact does not remove the theory's counterintuitive features, it casts them in a different light. Context is provided by following the history of two central aspects of physics: the elucidation of the basic structure of the world made up of particles, and the explanation, as well as the prediction, of how objects move. This history, prior to quantum mechanics, reveals that whereas theories and discoveries concerning the structure of nature became increasingly realistic, the laws of motion, even as they became more powerful, became more and more abstract and remote from intuitive notions of reality. Newton's laws of motion gained their abstract power by sacrificing direct and intuitive contact with real experience. Arriving 250 years after Newton, the break with a direct description of reality embodied in quantum mechanics was nevertheless profound.

Les informations fournies dans la section « A propos du livre » peuvent faire référence à une autre édition de ce titre.

Éditeur
World Scientific Publishing Co Pte Ltd
Date d'édition
2009
Langue
anglais
ISBN 10 
9814277029
ISBN 13 
9789814277020
Reliure
Relié
Nombre de pages
160
Coordonnées du fabricant
non disponible
Personne responsable
gpsr@libri.de
gpsr@libri.de

Friedensallee 273
Hamburg
22763
Allemagne

Autres éditions populaires du même titre

9789814277037: How Physics Confronts Reality: Einstein Was Correct, But Bohr Won The Game

Edition présentée

ISBN 10 :  9814277037 ISBN 13 :  9789814277037
Editeur : Wspc, 2009
Couverture souple