Quantum Legacies

Author : David Kaiser
Publisher : University of Chicago Press
ISBN 13 : 022669805X
Total Pages : 357 pages
Book Rating : 4.52/5 ( download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Download or read book Quantum Legacies written by David Kaiser and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2020-03-25 with total page 357 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The ideas at the root of quantum theory remain stubbornly, famously bizarre: a solid world reduced to puffs of probability; particles that tunnel through walls; cats suspended in zombielike states, neither alive nor dead; and twinned particles that share entangled fates. For more than a century, physicists have grappled with these conceptual uncertainties while enmeshed in the larger uncertainties of the social and political worlds around them, a time pocked by the rise of fascism, cataclysmic world wars, and a new nuclear age. In Quantum Legacies, David Kaiser introduces readers to iconic episodes in physicists’ still-unfolding quest to understand space, time, and matter at their most fundamental. In a series of vibrant essays, Kaiser takes us inside moments of discovery and debate among the great minds of the era—Albert Einstein, Erwin Schrödinger, Stephen Hawking, and many more who have indelibly shaped our understanding of nature—as they have tried to make sense of a messy world. Ranging across space and time, the episodes span the heady 1920s, the dark days of the 1930s, the turbulence of the Cold War, and the peculiar political realities that followed. In those eras as in our own, researchers’ ambition has often been to transcend the vagaries of here and now, to contribute lasting insights into how the world works that might reach beyond a given researcher’s limited view. In Quantum Legacies, Kaiser unveils the difficult and unsteady work required to forge some shared understanding between individuals and across generations, and in doing so, he illuminates the deep ties between scientific exploration and the human condition.

Author : David Kaiser
Publisher : University of Chicago Press
ISBN 13 : 022681999X
Total Pages : 357 pages
Book Rating : 4.90/5 ( download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Download or read book Quantum Legacies written by David Kaiser and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2022-06-16 with total page 357 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Physicists have grappled with quantum theory for over a century. They have learned to wring precise answers from the theory's governing equations, and no experiment to date has found compelling evidence to contradict it. Even so, the conceptual apparatus remains stubbornly, famously bizarre. Physicists have tackled these conceptual uncertainties while navigating still larger ones: the rise of fascism, cataclysmic world wars and a new nuclear age, an unsteady Cold War stand-off and its unexpected end. Quantum Legacies introduces readers to physics' still-unfolding quest by treating iconic moments of discovery and debate among well-known figures like Albert Einstein, Erwin Schrèodinger, and Stephen Hawking, and many others whose contributions have indelibly shaped our understanding of nature"--

Author : Barry R. Parker
Publisher : Prometheus Books
ISBN 13 : 161592633X
Total Pages : 282 pages
Book Rating : 4.36/5 ( download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Download or read book Quantum Legacy written by Barry R. Parker and published by Prometheus Books. This book was released on 2002-08 with total page 282 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Parker introduces readers to all the major players in the history of quantum physics, offering interesting details that shed light on their important discoveries, in a book that "The New York Times" calls "physics for poets." Illustrations.

Author : David Kaiser
Publisher : W.W. Norton & Company
ISBN 13 : 9780393342314
Total Pages : 372 pages
Book Rating : 4.1X/5 ( download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Download or read book How the Hippies Saved Physics written by David Kaiser and published by W.W. Norton & Company. This book was released on 2012-06-29 with total page 372 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Today, quantum information theory is among the most exciting scientific frontiers, attracting billions of dollars in funding and thousands of talented researchers. But as MIT physicist and historian David Kaiser reveals, this cutting-edge field has a surprisingly psychedelic past. How the Hippies Saved Physics introduces us to a band of freewheeling physicists who defied the imperative to "shut up and calculate" and helped to rejuvenate modern physics. For physicists, the 1970s were a time of stagnation. Jobs became scarce, and conformity was encouraged, sometimes stifling exploration of the mysteries of the physical world. Dissatisfied, underemployed, and eternally curious, an eccentric group of physicists in Berkeley, California, banded together to throw off the constraints of the physics mainstream and explore the wilder side of science. Dubbing themselves the "Fundamental Fysiks Group," they pursued an audacious, speculative approach to physics. They studied quantum entanglement and Bell's Theorem through the lens of Eastern mysticism and psychic mind-reading, discussing the latest research while lounging in hot tubs. Some even dabbled with LSD to enhance their creativity. Unlikely as it may seem, these iconoclasts spun modern physics in a new direction, forcing mainstream physicists to pay attention to the strange but exciting underpinnings of quantum theory. A lively, entertaining story that illuminates the relationship between creativity and scientific progress, How the Hippies Saved Physics takes us to a time when only the unlikeliest heroes could break the science world out of its rut.

Author : George S. Greenstein
Publisher : MIT Press
ISBN 13 : 0262549301
Total Pages : 157 pages
Book Rating : 4.01/5 ( download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Download or read book Quantum Strangeness written by George S. Greenstein and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2023-09-19 with total page 157 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A physicist's efforts to understand the enigma that is quantum mechanics. Quantum mechanics is one of the glories of our age. The theory lies at the heart of modern society. Quantum mechanics is one of our most valuable forecasters—a “great predictor.” It has immeasurably altered our conception of the natural world. Its philosophical implications are earthshaking. But quantum mechanics steadfastly refuses to speak of many things; it deals in probabilities rather than giving explicit descriptions. It never explains. Einstein, one of its creators, considered the theory incomplete. Even now, many years after the creation of quantum mechanics, physicists continue to argue about it. Astrophysicist George Greenstein has been both fascinated and confused by quantum mechanics for his entire career. In this book, he describes, engagingly and accessibly, his efforts to understand the enigma that is quantum mechanics. The fastest route to the insight into the ultimate nature of reality revealed by quantum mechanics, Greenstein writes, is through Bell's Theorem, which concerns reality at the quantum level; and Bell's 1964 discovery drives Greenstein's quest. Greenstein recounts a scientific odyssey that begins with Einstein, continues with Bell, and culminates with today's push to develop an industry of quantum machines. Along the way, he discusses spin, entanglement, experimental metaphysics, and quantum teleportation, often with easy-to-grasp analogies. We have known for decades that the world of the quantum was strange, but, Greenstein says, not until John Bell came along did we know just how strange.

Author : Matthew Stanley
Publisher : Viking
ISBN 13 : 1524745413
Total Pages : 402 pages
Book Rating : 4.17/5 ( download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Download or read book Einstein's War written by Matthew Stanley and published by Viking. This book was released on 2019 with total page 402 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Stanley is a storyteller par excellence."--The Washington Post Kirkus Review starred review; Publishers Weekly starred review; Booklist starred review The birth of a world-changing idea in the middle of a bloodbath Einstein's War is a riveting exploration of both the beauty of scientific creativity and enduring horrors of human nature. These two great forces battle in a story that culminates with a victory now a century old, the mind-bending theory of general relativity. Few recognize how the Great War, the industrialized slaughter that bled Europe from 1914 to 1918, shaped Einstein's life and work. While Einstein never held a rifle, he formulated general relativity blockaded in Berlin, literally starving. He lost fifty pounds in three months, unable to communicate with his most important colleagues. Some of those colleagues fought against rabid nationalism; others were busy inventing chemical warfare--being a scientist trapped you in the power plays of empire. Meanwhile, Einstein struggled to craft relativity and persuade the world that it was correct. This was, after all, the first complete revision of our conception of the universe since Isaac Newton, and its victory was far from sure. Scientists seeking to confirm Einstein's ideas were arrested as spies. Technical journals were banned as enemy propaganda. Colleagues died in the trenches. Einstein was separated from his most crucial ally by barbed wire and U-boats. This ally was the Quaker astronomer and Cambridge don A. S. Eddington, who would go on to convince the world of the truth of relativity and the greatness of Einstein. In May of 1919, when Europe was still in chaos from the war, Eddington led a globe-spanning expedition to catch a fleeting solar eclipse for a rare opportunity to confirm Einstein's bold prediction that light has weight. It was the result of this expedition--the proof of relativity, as many saw it--that put Einstein on front pages around the world. Matthew Stanley's epic tale is a celebration of how bigotry and nationalism can be defeated and of what science can offer when they are.

Author : L. E. Modesitt, Jr.
Publisher : Tor Books
ISBN 13 : 1250229219
Total Pages : 304 pages
Book Rating : 4.12/5 ( download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Download or read book Quantum Shadows written by L. E. Modesitt, Jr. and published by Tor Books. This book was released on 2020-07-21 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Bestselling author of The Mongrel Mage, L. E. Modesitt, Jr's Quantum Shadows blends science fiction, myth, and legend in an adventure that pits old gods and new against one another in a far future world. On a world called Heaven, the ten major religions of mankind each have its own land governed by a capital city and ruled by a Hegemon. That Hegemon may be a god, or a prophet of a god. Smaller religions have their own towns or villages of belief. Corvyn, known as the Shadow of the Raven, contains the collective memory of humanity’s Falls from Grace. With this knowledge comes enormous power. When unknown power burns a mysterious black image into the holy place of each House of the Decalivre, Corvyn must discover what entity could possibly have that much power. The stakes are nothing less than another Fall, and if he doesn't stop it, mankind will not rise from the ashes. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Author : David Kaiser
Publisher : MIT Press
ISBN 13 : 0262113236
Total Pages : 218 pages
Book Rating : 4.36/5 ( download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Download or read book Becoming MIT written by David Kaiser and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2010 with total page 218 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The evolution of MIT, as seen in a series of crucial decisions over the years.

Author : Philip Ball
Publisher : University of Chicago Press
ISBN 13 : 022675510X
Total Pages : 382 pages
Book Rating : 4.06/5 ( download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Download or read book Beyond Weird written by Philip Ball and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2020-10-14 with total page 382 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Anyone who is not shocked by quantum theory has not understood it.” Since Niels Bohr said this many years ago, quantum mechanics has only been getting more shocking. We now realize that it’s not really telling us that “weird” things happen out of sight, on the tiniest level, in the atomic world: rather, everything is quantum. But if quantum mechanics is correct, what seems obvious and right in our everyday world is built on foundations that don’t seem obvious or right at all—or even possible. An exhilarating tour of the contemporary quantum landscape, Beyond Weird is a book about what quantum physics really means—and what it doesn’t. Science writer Philip Ball offers an up-to-date, accessible account of the quest to come to grips with the most fundamental theory of physical reality, and to explain how its counterintuitive principles underpin the world we experience. Over the past decade it has become clear that quantum physics is less a theory about particles and waves, uncertainty and fuzziness, than a theory about information and knowledge—about what can be known, and how we can know it. Discoveries and experiments over the past few decades have called into question the meanings and limits of space and time, cause and effect, and, ultimately, of knowledge itself. The quantum world Ball shows us isn’t a different world. It is our world, and if anything deserves to be called “weird,” it’s us.

Author : Thomas S. Kuhn
Publisher : University of Chicago Press
ISBN 13 : 0226458008
Total Pages : 400 pages
Book Rating : 4.07/5 ( download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Download or read book Black-Body Theory and the Quantum Discontinuity, 1894-1912 written by Thomas S. Kuhn and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 1987-01-15 with total page 400 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "A masterly assessment of the way the idea of quanta of radiation became part of 20th-century physics. . . . The book not only deals with a topic of importance and interest to all scientists, but is also a polished literary work, described (accurately) by one of its original reviewers as a scientific detective story."—John Gribbin, New Scientist "Every scientist should have this book."—Paul Davies, New Scientist