Einstein's Dice and Schrödinger's Cat: how two great minds battled quantum randomness to create a unified theory of physics
Author:
Publisher:
Blackstone Publishing
Pub. Date:
2015
Edition:
Unabridged
Language:
English
Description
Albert Einstein and Erwin Schrödinger were friends and comrades-in-arms against what they considered the most preposterous aspects of quantum physics: its indeterminacy. Einstein famously quipped that God does not play dice with the universe, and Schrödinger is equally well known for his thought experiment about the cat in the box who ends up "spread out" in a probabilistic state, neither wholly alive nor wholly dead. Both of these famous images arose from these two men's dissatisfaction with quantum weirdness and with their assertion that underneath it all, there must be some essentially deterministic world. Even though it was Einstein's own theories that made quantum mechanics possible, both he and Schrödinger could not bear the idea that the universe was, at its most fundamental level, random.As the Second World War raged, both men struggled to produce a theory that would describe in full the universe's ultimate design, first as collaborators, then as competitors. They both ultimately failed in their search for a Grand Unified Theory-not only because quantum mechanics is true but because Einstein and Schrödinger were also missing a key component: of the four forces we recognize today (gravity, electromagnetism, the weak force, and the strong force), only gravity and electromagnetism were known at the time.Despite their failures, much of modern physics remains focused on the search for a Grand Unified Theory. As Halpern explains, the recent discovery of the Higgs boson makes the Standard Model-the closest thing we have to a unified theory-nearly complete. And while Einstein and Schrödinger tried and failed to explain everything in the cosmos through pure geometry, the development of string theory has, in its own quantum way, brought this idea back into vogue. As in so many things, even when he was wrong, Einstein couldn't help but be right.
More Details
Contributors:
ISBN:
9781982472061
Reviews from GoodReads
Loading GoodReads Reviews.
Staff View
Grouping Information
Grouped Work ID | 40c9b57f-5734-ac0e-80ff-018573913f24 |
---|---|
Grouping Title | einsteins dice and schrodingers cat how two great minds battled quantum randomness to create a unified theory of physics |
Grouping Author | phd paul halpern |
Grouping Category | book |
Grouping Language | English (eng) |
Last Grouping Update | 2024-01-26 15:04:47PM |
Last Indexed | 2024-04-30 23:01:22PM |
Solr Fields
accelerated_reader_point_value
0
accelerated_reader_reading_level
0
auth_author2
Runnette, Sean
author
Halpern, PhD, Paul
author2-role
Runnette, Sean,reader
hoopla digital
hoopla digital
author_display
Halpern, PhD, Paul
display_description
Albert Einstein and Erwin Schrödinger were friends and comrades-in-arms against what they considered the most preposterous aspects of quantum physics: its indeterminacy. Einstein famously quipped that God does not play dice with the universe, and Schrödinger is equally well known for his thought experiment about the cat in the box who ends up "spread out" in a probabilistic state, neither wholly alive nor wholly dead. Both of these famous images arose from these two men's dissatisfaction with quantum weirdness and with their assertion that underneath it all, there must be some essentially deterministic world. Even though it was Einstein's own theories that made quantum mechanics possible, both he and Schrödinger could not bear the idea that the universe was, at its most fundamental level, random.As the Second World War raged, both men struggled to produce a theory that would describe in full the universe's ultimate design, first as collaborators, then as competitors. They both ultimately failed in their search for a Grand Unified Theory-not only because quantum mechanics is true but because Einstein and Schrödinger were also missing a key component: of the four forces we recognize today (gravity, electromagnetism, the weak force, and the strong force), only gravity and electromagnetism were known at the time.Despite their failures, much of modern physics remains focused on the search for a Grand Unified Theory. As Halpern explains, the recent discovery of the Higgs boson makes the Standard Model-the closest thing we have to a unified theory-nearly complete. And while Einstein and Schrödinger tried and failed to explain everything in the cosmos through pure geometry, the development of string theory has, in its own quantum way, brought this idea back into vogue. As in so many things, even when he was wrong, Einstein couldn't help but be right.
format_category_eh
Audio Books
eBook
eBook
format_eh
eAudiobook
id
40c9b57f-5734-ac0e-80ff-018573913f24
isbn
9781982472061
last_indexed
2024-05-01T05:01:22.343Z
lexile_score
-1
literary_form
Other
literary_form_full
Other
local_time_since_added_eh
Year
primary_isbn
9781982472061
publishDate
2015
publisher
Blackstone Publishing
recordtype
grouped_work
subject_facet
Physics
Quantum theory
Science
Quantum theory
Science
title_display
Einstein's Dice and Schrödinger's Cat : how two great minds battled quantum randomness to create a unified theory of physics
title_full
Einstein's Dice and Schrödinger's Cat : how two great minds battled quantum randomness to create a unified theory of physics [electronic resource] / Paul Halpern
title_short
Einstein's Dice and Schrödinger's Cat
title_sub
how two great minds battled quantum randomness to create a unified theory of physics
topic_facet
Physics
Quantum theory
Science
Quantum theory
Science
Solr Details Tables
item_details
Bib Id | Item Id | Shelf Loc | Call Num | Format | Format Category | Num Copies | Is Order Item | Is eContent | eContent Source | eContent URL | Detailed Status | Last Checkin | Location |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
hoopla:MWT11382166 | Online Hoopla Collection | Online Hoopla | eAudiobook | Audio Books | 1 | false | true | Hoopla | https://www.hoopladigital.com/title/11382166?utm_source=MARC&Lid=hh4435 | Available Online |
record_details
Bib Id | Format | Format Category | Edition | Language | Publisher | Publication Date | Physical Description | Abridged |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
hoopla:MWT11382166 | eAudiobook | Audio Books | Unabridged | English | Blackstone Publishing | 2015 | 1 online resource (1 audio file (10hr., 18 min.)) : digital. |
scoping_details_eh
Bib Id | Item Id | Grouped Status | Status | Locally Owned | Available | Holdable | Bookable | In Library Use Only | Library Owned | Holdable PTypes | Bookable PTypes | Local Url |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
hoopla:MWT11382166 | Available Online | Available Online | false | true | false | false | false | false |