Uncertainty: Einstein, Heisenberg, Bohr, and the Struggle for the Soul of Science
The more precisely the position is determined, the less precisely the momentum is known in this instant, and vice versa.
—Werner Heisenberg
That God would choose to play dice with the world is something I cannot believe.
—Albert Einstein
Nothing exists until it is measured.
—Neils Bohr
The remarkable story of a startling scientific idea that ignited a battle among the greatest minds of the twentieth century and profoundly influenced intellectual inquiry in fields ranging from physics to literary criticism, anthropology and journalism
In 1927, the young German physicist Werner Heisenberg challenged centuries of scientific understanding when he introduced what came to be known as “the uncertainty principle.” Building on his own radical innovations in quantum theory, Heisenberg proved that in many physical measurements, you can obtain one bit of information only at the price of losing another. Heisenberg’s principle implied that scientific quantities/concepts do not have absolute, independent meaning, but acquire meaning only in terms of the experiments used to measure them. This proposition, undermining the cherished belief that science could reveal the physical world with limitless detail and precision, placed Heisenberg in direct opposition to the revered Albert Einstein. The eminent scientist Niels Bohr, Heisenberg’s mentor and Einstein’s long-time friend, found himself caught between the two.
Uncertainty chronicles the birth and evolution of one of the most significant findings in the history of science, and portrays the clash of ideas and personalities it provoked. Einstein?was emotionally as well as intellectually determined to prove the uncertainty principle false. Heisenberg represented a new generation of physicists who believed that quantum theory overthrew the old certainties; confident of his reasoning, Heisenberg dismissed Einstein’s objections. Bohr understood that Heisenberg was correct, but he also recognized the vital necessity of gaining Einstein’s support as the world faced the shocking implications of Heisenberg’s principle.
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24 Reviews
| From: Amazon Posted: Jun 04, 2008 Type: User Review |
amuse and interesting
Lindlye introduce us in the very central point of Physics, the large and controversial discovering of the duality of matter. Amusement and interesting, he made simple the very difficult questions of understanding.
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 5.00/5 |
| From: Amazon Posted: Apr 10, 2008 Type: User Review |
God Not Only Plays Dice, She Cheats!
Richard Feynman once remarked, perhaps apocryphally, that if anyone told you they `understood' quantum theory, that the one thing you could depend on is that they had missed something. That is why I find it interesting that many of the `so-so' or...
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5.00/5 |
| From: Amazon Posted: Nov 05, 2007 Type: User Review |
"boltzmann's atom" is of another class
I bought this book because I appreciated very much the earlier work
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 3.00/5 |
| From: Amazon Posted: Sep 20, 2007 Type: User Review |
Uncertainty
A good book. Makes a difficult topic - - quantum mechanics and some particle physics - - understandable for non-experts.
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 4.00/5 |
| From: Amazon Posted: Sep 01, 2007 Type: User Review |
Elegant and exciting
I read two graduate texts on quantum mechanics recently. The first took an historical approach, beginning with Planck's work on black-body radiation, then Einstein's treatment of Brownian motion and light quanta, proceeding on to Bohr's atom,...
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5.00/5 |
| From: Amazon Posted: Aug 26, 2007 Type: User Review |
A great account of where the hell does quantum mechanics come from, centered around the main scientists involved.
If you've ever had a basic course in Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics the names of the main characters in this book will sound familiar ; Robert Brown (yes, from the "Brownian motion of particles"), Charles Darwin, Boltzmann, Poincar,Rntgen,...
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5.00/5 |
| From: Amazon Posted: Aug 16, 2007 Type: User Review |
Fascinating history, very well written
Lindley writes very well, indeed. I liked both his style and the story which he told. The early days of quantum mechanics presented physics with a set of dilemmas which were a shock to the way the world was thought to work. We are not over that...
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4.00/5 |
| From: Amazon Posted: Jul 30, 2007 Type: User Review |
Wow! The history, concepts and personalities behind Quantum Physics
My Dad got his doctorate in Physics at Berlin Institute of Technology (The top technological school in the world at the time) starting in 1932 when Einstein was still there. He knew all the personalities. Heisenberg, Born, Schroedinger. It was a...
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5.00/5 |
| From: Amazon Posted: Jul 16, 2007 Type: User Review |
Interesting read
I found this an interesting read. The history of how the atom was discovered and the theories that evolved are fascinating. You get an insight into the lives and thoughts of the key thinkers of that time.
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4.00/5 |
| From: Amazon Posted: Jun 28, 2007 Type: User Review |
Great book on the men behind the science
The development of Heisenberg's uncertainty principle was a watershed moment in the history of physics when science and philosophy converged to create a whole new way of looking at reality. Early 20th century physicists were trained in the safe,...
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4.00/5 |
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