Among the weird facts about the history of quantum theory,
according to Adam Becker in What is Real:
The Unfinished Quest for the Meaning of Quantum Theory (2018), is that Niels
Bohr, one of the originators of quantum theory, argued that the quantum world
didn’t exist, as far as the normal Newtonian world was concerned, and that it
was therefore impossible to ask questions about it. Bohr wrote and spoke in such an obscure way
that articles are written that argue over what he meant. The irony at the center of this book is that
although quantum theory is the source of precise measurements and of science
that has produced many of the technological marvels of contemporary life, many
quantum scientists and theorists aren’t sure what it means and how it
works. Quantum physics, as a way of
explaining that the world isn’t really what it seems, is itself not what it
seems. Moreover, the conflicts in personality and ambition, the political
tensions, that characterize other avenues of life also plague research in
physics. The work of ambitious and
personable physicists tends to get more attention than that of loners who
prefer to work quietly. This is one of several reasons Becker cites for the
relative success of the Copenhagen interpretation championed by the popular and
influential Bohr, despites its flaws.
Every book I read about quantum physics I begin with the
hope that it will do a better job than the others of making quantum physics
clear, or at least clearer. The
uncertainty principle, quantum action at a distance, atomic structures, the
measurement paradox, Schrödinger’s cat, locality vs. non-locality, wave-particle
duality—I want to understand these concepts.
Becker does a better job than most in explaining them with some clarity,
but as usually happens at a certain point my eyes glaze over. My own cognitive limitations may be the
problem. Or maybe the complexity of
quantum physics is overwhelming for someone who reads casually in the field. I continue
to hope for understanding.
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